Bittersweet in My Heart-The Collected Poems of Mary, Queen of Scots

I first came to know Mary, Queen of Scots through Donizetti's opera Maria Stuarda. As I needed to write an article on this opera, I conducted a study about her and her tragic life. While reading various secondary sources and analyzing the score, I wanted to know real Mary. So I looked up her writings and found a collection of her poems. It contains an ode to her first husband (King Francis II), sonnets sent to the third husband (Earl of Bothwell), a letter to Queen Elizabeth I, verses in her Book of Hours, a letter to her French literary mentor throughout her life, the final poem composed during the morning of her execution, and so on. It gives a vivid glimpse of how real Mary thought and felt in her difficult times. Worth reading.