| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | Death’s Emissaries | | By James Shirley (1596–1666) |
| | | VICTORIOUS 1 men of earth, no more | |
| Proclaim how wide your empires are; | |
| Though you bind on every shore | |
| And your triumphs reach as far | |
| As night or day, | 5 |
| Yet you, proud monarchs, must obey | |
| And mingle with forgotten ashes, when | |
| Death calls ye to the crowd of common men. | |
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| Devouring Famine, Plague, and War, | |
| Each able to undo mankind, | 10 |
| Death’s servile emissaries are; | |
| Nor to these alone confined, | |
| He hath at will | |
| More quaint and subtle ways to kill; | |
| A smile or kiss, as he will use the art, | 15 |
| Shall have the cunning skill to break a heart. | |
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