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,

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.

The king reigns but does not govern.
[Fr., Le roi regne, il ne gouverne pas.]

The king reigns but does not govern.
[Fr., Le roi regne, il ne gouverne pas.]

She governs but she does not reign.
[Fr., Elle gouvernait, mais elle ne regnait pas.]

She governs but she does not reign.
[Fr., Elle gouvernait, mais elle ne regnait pas.]

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom
there is no help.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom
there is no help.

Knowest thou not that kings have long hands?
[Lat., An nescis longos regibus esse manus?]

Knowest thou not that kings have long hands?
[Lat., An nescis longos regibus esse manus?]

A prince, the moment he is crown'd,
Inherits every virtue sound,
As emblems of the sovereign power,
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A prince, the moment he is crown'd,
Inherits every virtue sound,
As emblems of the sovereign power,
Like other baubles in the Tower:
Is generous, valiant, just, and wise,
And so continues till he dies.

A partial world will list to my lays,
While Anna reigns, and sets a female name
Unrival'd read more

A partial world will list to my lays,
While Anna reigns, and sets a female name
Unrival'd in the glorious lists of fame.

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.