Quote#Death
I'm king of the dead—and I make my throne
Quote byPark Benjamin, Sr. · 1809–1864
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Old Sexton, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)..
English (original)
I'm king of the dead—and I make my throne On a monument slab of marble cold; And my scepter of rule is the spade I hold: Come they from cottage or come they from hall, Mankind are my subjects, all, all, all! Let them loiter in pleasure or toilfully spin— I gather them in, I gather them in!
— Park Benjamin, Sr.
More from Park Benjamin, Sr.
He loved his kind, but sought the love of few, And valued old opinions more than new.
And, like some low and mournful spell, To whisper but one word—farewell!
Flowers are Love's truest language.
Great faith it needs, according to my view, To trust in that which never could be true.
The mountain rill Seeks with no surer flow the far bright sea, Than my unchang'd affections flow to thee.
Pure and undimmed, thy angel smile Is mirrored on my dreams, Like evening's sunset-girded isle Upon her shadowed streams: And o'er my thoughts thy vision floats, Like melody of spring-bird, notes;