James Shirley (1596-1666)
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.
IMAGE: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Triumph of Death (c. 1562)
I think I'm going to be a skeleton with a momento mori banner for Halloween this year. (Having kids means I get to dress up too...)
ReplyDeleteThere are a set of prints by William Strang in the queue that can further inspire you! I will move them up to tomorrow, given how soon Halloween is coming . . . and be careful not to spell it wrong on any banner: memento mori. Not a criticism, just a friendly correction ;-)
DeleteMy spelling is, and always shall be, atrocious. Spell check is my best friend.
DeleteThank you for the correction, and I look forward to seeing the prints.