AMONG MY FAVOURITE POEMS

 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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28^th March 2023                                              G. R. Kanwal