'Tis so much to be a king, that he only is so by being so.
- Michael read more

'Tis so much to be a king, that he only is so by being so.
- Michael Eyquen de Montaigne,

For God's sake let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings!
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For God's sake let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings!
How some have been deposed, some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed,
Some poisoned by their wives, some sleeping killed--
All murdered; for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court; and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp;
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be feared, and kill with looks;
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,
As if this flesh which walls about our life
Were brass impregnable; and humored thus,
Comes at the last, and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!
Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood
With solemn reverence, Throw away respect,
Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty;
For you have but mistook me all this while.
I live with bread like you, feel want, taste grief,
Need friends. Subjected thus,

Clemency is the surest proof of a true monarch.
[Fr., La clemence est la plus belle marque
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Clemency is the surest proof of a true monarch.
[Fr., La clemence est la plus belle marque
Qui fasse a l'univers connaitre un vrai monqrque.]

Though good faith should be banished from the rest of the world,
it should be found in the mouths read more

Though good faith should be banished from the rest of the world,
it should be found in the mouths of kings.
[Fr., Si la bonne foi etait bannie du reste du monde, il faudrait
qu'on la trouvat dans la bouche des rois.]

His legs bestrid the ocean: his reared arm
Crested the world: his voice was propertied
As all read more

His legs bestrid the ocean: his reared arm
Crested the world: his voice was propertied
As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends;
But when he meant to quail and shake the orb,
He was as rattling thunder.

The throne of another is not stable for thee.
[Lat., Alieno in loco
Haud stabile regnum est.]

The throne of another is not stable for thee.
[Lat., Alieno in loco
Haud stabile regnum est.]

For monarchs seldom sigh in vain.

For monarchs seldom sigh in vain.

Hail to the crown by Freedom shaped--to gird
An English sovereign's brow! and to the throne
Whereon read more

Hail to the crown by Freedom shaped--to gird
An English sovereign's brow! and to the throne
Whereon he sits! whose deep foundations lie
In veneration and the people's love.

Hail, glorious edifice, stupendous work!
God bless the Regent, and the Duke of York.

Hail, glorious edifice, stupendous work!
God bless the Regent, and the Duke of York.