Death's Final Conquest
James Shirley 1596 (London) – 1666 (London)
The glories of our birth and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against fate:
Death lays his icy hands on kings;
Sceptre and crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.
Some men with swords reap the field,
And plant fresh laurels where they kill;
But their strong nerves at last must yield;
They tame but one another still:
Early or late
They stoop to fate,
And must give up their murmuring breath,
When they, pale captives, creep to death.
The garlands wither on your brow,
Then boast no more your mighty deeds;
Upon death's purple altar now,
See where the victor victim bleeds:
All heads must come
To the cold tomb,
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 43 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCCDD EFEFAAGG HIHIXXJJ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 746 |
Words | 141 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"Death's Final Conquest" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/20493/death's-final-conquest>.
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