Death The Leveller by James Shirley is a philosophical poem that deals with the themes of man’s mortality, the transience of life, pride, honour, and the immortality of virtue. The poem’s central idea revolves around the universal truth of death being a great leveller as it renders all the societal distinctions of class, ability and power completely immaterial. Shirley wrote Death the Leveller as a part of the Caroline-era play “The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for the Armour of Achilles”. In the play, Ajax and Ulysses fight to obtain the Armour of the Greek hero Achilles. The poem is actually a part of a hymn that Calchas sings for Ajax who has just died. Composed in three stanzas, the poem has the rhyme scheme of ababccdd which adds a melancholic melody to this dirge sung by Calchas.
Shirley opens the poem by stating that all our earthly “glories” of power and property are insignificant in front of death- they hold no real value, although we regard them to be the most important aspect of our lives. Death does not discriminate between the king and his subjects. There is no armour that can stop the icy hand of death from touching the king or his subjects. The power and the glory of the State falls down and is levelled to the ground by death. Similarly, the victor and the vanquished are levelled alike by death.
The attributes of death as a just, unbiased leveller is presented wonderfully through the use of skillful imagery throughout the poem. The title of Death the Leveller is thus very apt and portrays the central theme effectively.
Everybody must bow before death. Therefore, it is better to cast aside our vanity and focus on the true virtues of life instead of the futile endeavours we undertake to attain hollow “glories”. No one is spared at the hand of death and all- be they rich or poor, kings or subjects, powerful or weak- have to ultimately succumb to it. Each and every person is equal in the eyes of death. All the wealth and glory accumulated by one during his lifetime holds no significance after his death. What is remembered in the end are the good deeds done by a person.
Death the Leveller | Summary and Analysis
Death the Leveller | Analysis Stanza 1
The glories of our blood and state Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armour against Fate; Death lays his icy hand on kings: Sceptre and Crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made With the poor crookèd scythe and spade.
The poem begins on a note that the physical glories of one’s body (blood) and one’s power and property (state) are not material things but mere shadows. The wealth and status that we so tirelessly pursue cannot ever save us from death’s ambush. Death looms over all of us, regardless of our class or creed.
The king and his subjects are both made equal in death. The pride that we take in the materialistic symbols of power and status is ephemeral, these “armours” are useless in the face of death and like mere “shadows” cannot shield one against death. The “armour” here alludes to the armour and shield of Achilles. The Shield of Achilles is one of the most important objects of Homer’s Illiad and was said to represent civilization and indeed, the entire world order. However, even this powerful armour is useless when faced with death.
Death the Leveller is a poem replete with literary devices. Notice the use of the metaphor “icy hand” to denote the cold-lifeless effect death has on whomsoever it touches. Contrast this with the warm nature of blood, the glory of which is said to be a shadow in the opening of the poem.
Death does not spare the power and the glory that the kings have. These are represented by the Scepter (power) and the Crown (glory). Both must tumble down in the end. Here, we see the use of metonymy when the poet uses Sceptre and Crown to symbolize power and glory respectively. These two powerful symbols of the rulers (and often, the oppressors) must turn to dust and be made equal to the “poor crooked scythe and spade” – tools used by the ruled and oppressed (poor peasants) to till the land and reap the harvest.
For death, the royalty and the peasantry are both alike. Here, we see Shirley’s masterful use of contrast to represent different classes of people by using the Sceptre and Crown on the one hand and Scythe and Spade on the other. One also witnesses the use of alliteration (scythe and spade) in the last line of this stanza:
Death the Leveller | Analysis Stanza 2
Some men with swords may reap the field, And plant fresh laurels where they kill: But their strong nerves at last must yield; They tame but one another still: Early or late They stoop to fate, And must give up their murmuring breath When they, pale captives, creep to death.
In the second stanza, the poet talks about the warrior class who help sustain the “state” of the king mentioned in the first stanza. These powerful conquerors attack other lands, winning laurels and praise for their bravery.
These men are said “reap the field” with swords – meaning, they cut the heads of their rivals like cutting the heads of crops in the field. This technique of using an expression in place of one that may be found unpleasant or harsh is known as euphemism. This use is made effectively as we see that in the stanza immediately before this, the poet had used the image of Scythe- a tool used to cut the crops in harvest time.
Eventually, the victors too become a part of the same bloodshed. They too have to kneel before providence and accept their demise and sooner or later. Notice the use of pun in line 4 of the second stanza where the word “still” denotes both ineffectiveness and death.
Once the captors, these “men with swords” too become captives of death as it leads them to their end. In the end they too, like their “pale captives”, have to surrender their breath before death. There is great shift of tone in the second stanza from valiant victories to poignant surrender. The use of transferred epithet can be seen in “murmuring breath” in line 7 of this stanza.
The Christian heritage of Renaissance Humanism is reflected in Shirley’s used of the ideas of man turning to dust and the idea of man being like a crop which lives today and cut down tomorrow, both very recurrent imageries in Judeo-Christian theology.
Death the Leveller | Summary and Analysis Stanza 3
The garlands wither on your brow, Then boast no more your mighty deeds! Upon Death’s purple altar now See where the victor-victim bleeds. Your heads must come To the cold tomb: Only the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom in their dust.
All the praise and adoration bestowed upon them by the people for their heroic achievements hold no meaning after they are dead. Their success and glory eventually fade away, quite like the garlands that wither on the brow of even the greatest of warriors like Ajax. Be it the victorious, or the defeated, all shed their blood at death’s “purple altar”. Purple was associated with Gods (hence the idea of immortality) and was used by the Greek royalty who claimed to be the descendants of the Gods. However, death doesn’t recognize any royalty and the purple altar belongs to it more than anybody else. Death demands sacrifice from all, without any distinction being made between the victors or the vanquished. They bleed alike at death’s shrine. When all is said and done, each and every person, whether they are amongst those who achieved success or amongst those who failed, rests in the “cold tombs” of death. The warmth of one’s superficial honour and pretentious vanity does not reach the eternal resting place.
The only note of hope and optimism can be seen in the last few lines wherein the poet states that though everything else might be forgotten, the good deeds done by man shall always continue to stay. It is only one’s good deeds that continue to spread their sweet fragrance long after the person is gone. Their just actions and noble works are what remain at the end. A metaphor can be seen in the ending couplet wherein the goodness of one’s kind deeds is compared to the sweet fragrance of flowers that blossom everywhere. The flowers in the last lines are symbolic of peace as contrasted against the imagery of bloody wars and sacrifices at the altar portrayed in the earlier lines, thus making the end optimistic. The memory of one’s virtuous acts and goodness lasts forever.
The one who has done good shall be remembered by posterity even long after s/he is gone. Goodness survives death. Our riches and power are transient, but the nobility of our soul is permanent. Virtues are what make men immortal. It is therefore virtues that make us one with the Gods.
