SEEST thou those Rays, the Light 'bove them? And that gay thing the Diadem? The Wheel and Balance, which are tied To th' Gold, black Clouds on either side? Seest thou the winged Trumpeters withal, That kick the World's blue tottering Ball? The flying Globe, the Glass thereon, Those fragments of a Skeleton? The Bays, the Palms, the Fighting men, And written Scroll? -- Come tell me then, Did thy o'er-curious eye e'er see An apter scheme of Misery? What's all that Gold and sparkling Stones To that bald Skull, to those Cross Bones? What mean those Blades (whom we adore) To stain the Earth with purple gore? Sack stately towns, silk banners spread, Gallop their coursers o'er the dead? Far more than this? and all to sway But till those sands shall glide away. For when the bubble world shall fly With stretch'd-out plumes, when the brisk eye Shall close with anguish, sink with tears, And th' angels' trumpets pierce our ears, What's haughty man, or those fine things, Which Heaven calls men, though men style kings? Vain World, adieu! and farewell, fond renown! Give me the Glory, that's above the Crown. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PHILOMELA: PHILOMELA'S ODE [THAT SHE SANG IN HER ARBOR] by ROBERT GREENE DEWEY AT MANILA [MAY 1, 1898] by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON EPIGRAM: 14. TO WILLIAM CAMDEN by BEN JONSON TO SHELLEY by JOHN BANISTER TABB LANDSCAPE; TWILIGHT by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH AN EPITAPH, ON A FOOLISH BOASTER by PHILIP AYRES |