Variation on a Theme of England's Henry VI
What is a kingdom but a golden care
Or Majesty a deep well
full of woe?
The crown, so troublesome a bedfellow,
Confers the heavy burden kings must bear.
So are the ports of slumber open wide
To many a watchful night,
while carefree subjects,
Asleep on pallets,
dream of careless objects,
Peace-drenched, and in Elysium
abide.
Even the sea-boy, crouched upon a mast,
Or shepherd dozing under a tree's shade,
Enjoy their wealth of rest, though rudely laid,
While kings in statehood watch and pray and fast.
O Fame, thou art a fickle flame, how prone
To false friends,
treason,
and insurgency,
Nor canst thou with thy cousin, Ceremony,
Cure mortal ills that mortal men may own.
Thou, gloss on faint deeds,
canst not set a leg
Nor heal a wound,
nor hast thou any plea
When to the Lord all souls shall bend the knee
But must give more account, thy place to beg.
If hard for rich men,
how much more a king?
To enter the Eternal Realm I'd give
A thousand crowns and as a swain
should live
To shun the snare of riches and go in.
[1]
'2 Henry IV',
IV.v.22
[2]
'Richard II',
IV.i.188
[3]
'2 Henry IV',
IV.v.21
[4]
'2 Henry IV',
IV.v.23-24
[5]
'2 Henry IV',
III.i.10
[7]
'2 Henry IV',
III.i.18-30
[8]
'3 Henry VI',
II.v.49
[9]
'Henry V',
IV.i.226-227; 'Pericles',
I.ii.38-43
[10]
'3 Henry VI',
II.v.53
[11]
'Henry V',
IV.i.227-233
[12]
'Timon of Athens',
I.ii.16-19
[13]
'1 Henry IV',
V.i.132-133
[14]
'Hamlet',
III.iii.60-67
[15]
'Richard II',
V.v.16-17
[16]
'3 Henry VI',
II.v.21-22
|
