AMONG MY FAVOURITE POEMS
AMONG MY FAVOURITE POEMS
The title of the poem is The glories of our blood and
state. It is written by James Shirley (1596-1666), a famous dramatist and
poet of his times. I first read it more than half a century ago as a class X
student. It impressed me a lot even then with a different title Death the Leveller.
The poem which reads as follows is ‘ on the power of good
deeds to survive the strangle hold of death whose ‘dismal march tramples down human
pride’ and whose vividly personified picture appears as the ultimate conqueror , having a realm
where perfect equality prevails.
The glories
of our blood and state
Are shadows,
not substantial things;
There is no
armour against Fate;
Death lays his
icy hand 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 may 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 bleed;
Your heads must come
To the cold tomb;
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.
According to the British critic Marjorie Boulton (1824-2017) , though didactic in tone, and on
a solemn subject, the poem is not dull and flat. It is a true lyric, for it
comes from a play in which it was sung.
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28th
March 2023 G.
R. Kanwal
