crooked scythe, spade

[user_gary]

Sceptre and crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.


What is the meaning of this verse of a poem
Could anyone explain it?

[BobK]

sceptre and crown => symbols of monarchy
scythe and spade => tools used in farming

The verse is about social justice.

b

[curmudgeon]

It is from the first verse of 'Death the Leveller' by J Shirley...

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 crooked scythe and spade.


As the title suggests, all of us will one day die, no matter whether we are a king or a peasant.

69. Death the Leveller. J. Shirley. The Golden Treasury

[BobK]

It is from the first verse of 'Death the Leveller' by J Shirley...

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 crooked scythe and spade.


As the title suggests, all of us will one day die, no matter whether we are a king or a peasant.

69. Death the Leveller. J. Shirley. The Golden Treasury

Oddly, I was going to use the word 'levelling', but dismissed it.

b

[curmudgeon]

Oddly, I was going to use the word 'levelling', but dismissed it.

b

It was drummed into me at school in the antedeluvian days