I am the Cannon King, behold!
I perish on a throne of gold.
With forest far and turret high,
Renowned and rajah-rich am I.
My father was, and his before,
With wealth we owe to war on war;
But let no potentate be proud . . .
There are no pockets in a shroud.
By nature I am mild and kind,
To gentleness and ruth inclined;
And though the pheasants over-run
My woods I will not touch a gun.
Yet while each monster that I forge
Thunders destruction form its gorge.
Death’s whisper is, I vow, more loud . . .
There are no pockets in a shroud.
My time is short, my ships at sea
Already seem like ghosts to me;
My millions mock me I am poor
As any beggar at my door.
My vast dominion I resign,
Six feet of earth to claim is mine,
Brooding with shoulders bitter-bowed . . .
There are no pockets in a shroud.
Dear God, let me purge my heart,
And be of heaven’s hope a part!
Flinging my fortune’s foul increase
To fight for pity, love and peace.
Oh that I could with healing fare,
And pledged to poverty and prayer
Cry high above the cringing crowd:
“Ye fools! Be not Mammon cowed . . .
There are no pockets in a shroud.”
(Robert William Service)
More Poetry from Robert William Service:
Robert William Service Poems based on Topics: God, War & Peace, Love, Death & Dying, Time, Gold, Heaven, Fool, Kings & Queens- Fighting Mac (Robert William Service Poems)
- If You Had The Choice Of Two Women To Wed (Robert William Service Poems)
- (The sunshine seeks my little room) (Robert William Service Poems)
- Navels (Robert William Service Poems)
- The Little Piou-Piou (Robert William Service Poems)
- The Harpy (Robert William Service Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, God Poems, Time Poems, Death & Dying Poems, War & Peace Poems, Heaven Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Gold Poems, Fool PoemsBased on Keywords: cowed, potentate, pheasants, cringing, over-run
- Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind. In Three Cantos. - Canto I. (Matthew Prior Poems)
- The Merchant of Venice,: A Legend of Italy (Richard Harris Barham Poems)
- Convict Once - Part Second. (James Brunton Stephens Poems)
- Christ's Triumph after Death : Canto IV. Christ's Victory and Triumph (Giles Fletcher Jr Poems)
- Astraea: The Balance Of Illusions (Oliver Wendell Holmes Poems)