Friday NIght Poetry

Tonight's poem was written in the 18th century by William Cowper; I don't have a date for it but it easily could have been written for King George III who was born seven years after Cowper.


Playthings


Great princes have great playthings. Some
have played
At hewing mountains into men, and some
At building human wonders mountain high.
Some have amasssed the dull sad years of life
(Life spent in indolence and therefore sad)
With schemes of monumental fame, and sought
By pyramids and mausolean pomp,
Short-lived themselves, t'immortalize their bones.
Some seek diversion in the tented field
And make the sorrows of mankind their sport.
But war's a game which, were their subjects wise,
Kings should not play at. Nations would do well
T'exhort their truncheons from the puny hands
Of heroes, whose infirm and baby minds
Are gratified with mischief, and who spoil,
Because men suffer it, their toy the world.


—William Cowper