The Last Conqueror

James Shirley 1596 (London) – 1666 (London)



Victorious men of earth, no more
Proclaim how wide your empires are;
Though you bind-in every shore
And your triumphs reach as far
As night and day,
Yet you, proud monarchs, must obey
And mingle with forgotten ashes, when
Death calls ye to the crowd of common men.

Devouring Famine, Plague, and War,
Each able to undo mankind,
Death's servile emissaries are;
Nor to these alone confined,
He hath at will
More quaint and subtle ways to kill;
A smile or kiss, as he will use the art,
Shall have the cunning skill to break a heart.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

30 sec read
89

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCCDD AEBEFFGG
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 521
Words 99
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8

James Shirley

James Shirley (or Sherley) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly the same language and had a set of moral feelings and notions in common." His career of play writing extended from 1625 to the suppression of stage plays by Parliament in 1642. more…

All James Shirley poems | James Shirley Books

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