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| James Shirley From Google Images |
James Shirley was a poet and dramatist who was born in 1596 and died, sadly, after his house was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. A dramatist until Parliament closed the theaters in 1642 he fought for the Stuart cause before returning to London in 1644 to make his living as a schoolmaster. The above titled poem comes in under a number of headings and Harold Bloom in his selection of the finest poems in the English language settles on "Dirge" page 157, and remarks that Robert Frost at one of his readings recited it from memory, recording it as one of his favourite poems. I heard it first or at least I think it was first when Attracta Moore recited it from memory at the November meeting of the Writers' Circle and managed to record it on video, though whether it will load or not is another thing, being a little long for the Broadband out here. We will try! Attracta gave it the title "Death the Leveller" which seems to be the one that comes up most often when you search for it on Google. Whether there is anything of a coincidence here I do not know, given that the "Levellers" were an extreme radical group whose views even Cromwell took a little exception to, in the course of events, and given that James Shirley was a supporter of the Royalist cause, and would be expected to have even less sympathy for, I leave coincidence to you! Poem to follow I promise!
Sources: Harold Bloom: The Best Poems of the English Language, Wikipedia.
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