Victorious men of earth, no more <br />Proclaim how wide your empires are; <br />Though you bind-in every shore <br />And your triumphs reach as far <br />As night and day, <br />Yet you, proud monarchs, must obey <br />And mingle with forgotten ashes, when <br />Death calls ye to the crowd of common men. <br /> <br />Devouring Famine, Plague, and War, <br />Each able to undo mankind, <br />Death's servile emissaries are; <br />Nor to these alone confined, <br />He hath at will <br />More quaint and subtle ways to kill; <br />A smile or kiss, as he will use the art, <br />Shall have the cunning skill to break a heart.<br /><br />James Shirley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-last-conqueror/
