The Munition Maker

I am the Cannon king, behold!
I perish on a throne of gold
With forest far and turret high
Renowned and rajah-rich am I
My father was and his before
With wealth we owe to war on war;
But let no potentate be proud
There are no pockets in a shroud
By nature I am mild and kind
To gentleness and truth inclined;
And though the pheasants over-run
My woods, I will not touch a gun
Yet while each monster that I forge
Thunders destruction from its gorge
Death’s whisper is, I vow, more loud
There are no pockets in a shroud
My time is short, my ships at sea
Already seem like ghosts to me
My millions mock me, I am poor
As any beggar at my door
My vast dominion I resign
Six feet of earth to claim as mine
Brooding with shoulders bid bitter-bowed
There are no pockets in a shroud
Dear God, let me purge pure my heart
And be of Heaven’s hope a part!
Flinging my fortune’s foul increase
To fight for pity, love and peace
Oh that I could with healing fare
And pledged to poverty and prayer
Cry high above the cringing crowd
«Ye fools! Be not by Mammon cowed
There are no pockets in a shroud.»