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,

And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
intendest thou to kill me, as read more

And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedest the Egyptian? And
Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

He who knows not how to dissimulate, can not reign.
[Fr., Qui ne sait dissimuler, ne sait regner.]

He who knows not how to dissimulate, can not reign.
[Fr., Qui ne sait dissimuler, ne sait regner.]

The king never dies.

The king never dies.

In good King Charles's golden days
When royalty no harm meant,
A zealous high-churchman was I,
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In good King Charles's golden days
When royalty no harm meant,
A zealous high-churchman was I,
And so I got preferment.

I loved no King since Forty One
When Prelacy went down,
A Cloak and Band I then read more

I loved no King since Forty One
When Prelacy went down,
A Cloak and Band I then put on,
And preached against the Crown.

A merry monarch, scandalous and poor.

A merry monarch, scandalous and poor.

Over all good things certain, this is sure indeed,
Suffer not the old King, for we know the breed.

Over all good things certain, this is sure indeed,
Suffer not the old King, for we know the breed.

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.]