Death the Leveller

James Shirley

In the First Stanza the poet says that all the great achievements of people in our families or our communities will not matter in the end. There is nothing anyone can do to avoid the calling of Fate because man is destined to die. Death comes to kings as well as farmers. That is why, where they are buried, the vestments and weapons of the king are not superior in any way to farm implements.

In second stanza, the poet says that men with swords often win battles, and get both fame and glory because of that. However, in the end, their courage is nothing in the face of Fate. All warriors are overpowered by death and must surrender in defeat at some point of time. They may put up a fight, but in the end they will lose their vigour and move slowly towards the end of their lives.

In third stanza, the poet says that no matter what great deeds man does, his prizes and achievements will not last. One who has been a victor will also turn into a victim in their fight with Death. Ultimately, they must sacrifice themselves to this most powerful of deities in his own altar. In the end, they shall be buried under the earth. However, man may die but his actions won’t. If one has been just and fair in one’s life, then one’s actions can never be buried.

Critical Analysis of Death the Leveller

The title of “Death the Leveller” tells us what the poem is about even before we have read the poem. The poet here says that all men are made equal in death, and also that death is an absolute certainty for all men. Poor men die easily because they do not have too many resources. They may die of hunger. They may die because they cannot afford treatment for diseases. Rich men do not have such worries. And yet rich men must also die. If not for anything else, they will certainly die of old age. Hence, death is not something that either rich or poor people can escape. Even great warriors must bow down before Fate because man is destined to die. These are the men who kill others in the battlefield and believe it is glorious to do so. But there is no shortage of valiant fighters. One day the same men who had killed hundreds must themselves die. That is why it is said that to be born is to die. However, what we must keep in mind is that only the physical body of man is destroyed in death. Man’s great deeds live on. If he has been just towards his fellow men, then his deeds will be remembered for centuries after his death. Generations of his offspring will read about him in history books. Man’s great deeds will blossom like a fragrant flower from the dust where the human body is buried, and these deeds will continue to inspire others who come to inhabit this world after we are long gone.

Poetic Devices in Death the Leveller

Rhyme scheme

Each of the three stanzas in “Death the Leveller” follows the same rhyme scheme – ABABCCDD.

1st stanza:

Metaphor:

This rhetorical device is used when a covert comparison is made between two different things or ideas. In this stanza, the poet uses the device of metaphor in lines 1-2 when he compares all the glorious events in man’s life with shadows, since both of these do not have any material presence or value in the greater scheme of things.

Personification:

This rhetorical device is used to bestow human qualities on something that is not human. In this stanza, the poet uses the device of personification in line 3 with respect to Fate, and again in line 4 with respect to Death. Both fate and Death are visible figures in the poet’s imagination.

Transferred epithet:

This rhetorical device is used when an emotion is attributed to a non-living thing after being displaced from a person, most often the poet himself or herself. In this stanza, the poet uses the device of transferred epithet in line 8 when he calls the scythe and the spade “poor”. Of course, it is not that they are actually financially unstable, but that the people who hold them cannot afford anything better.

2nd stanza:

Metonymy:

This rhetorical device consists of the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant. In this stanza, the poet uses the device of metonymy in line 1 when he uses the word “field” to mean wars which are fought on battlefields.

Metaphor:

In this stanza, the poet uses the device of metaphor in line 2 when he compares getting fame and glory with planting laurels.

Central Idea of Death the Leveller:

Men who are distinguished by class in life, are rendered equal in death. Neither king nor farmer can escape the inevitability of death. Victors in battle must also lose to Death. The only aspect of human life that survives is his noble deeds. These will live on despite man’s eventual demise.

Themes of Death the Leveller:

Dust thou art, to dust returnest: The Bible says that man has evolved out of the stuff of the earth, out of dust as it were. And ultimately, man must return to dust as well. That is, man must be buried in the very earth that gave birth to him. Shirley does not use these very words in “Death the Leveller”. However, this phrase of the Bible could not have escaped his mind when he says in the last stanza when he says that all men’s heads must touch the cold tomb at some point of time or the other.

The route to immortality: The point that Shirley stresses again and again in this poem is that man is mortal. Neither will individual men survive nor will the human as a species. Is man then to not leave any trace of his existence on earth? He certainly is. This trace left by man will be in the form of his great deeds. Man’s noble deeds are the only way in which he will remain immortal.

The tone of Death the Leveller:

The overarching tone of “Death the Leveller” is one of fatalism as the poet stresses the inevitability of death. However, there is a sense of poetic justice at the end of the first stanza when the poet shows how kings are farmers are made equal in death. In the second stanza, the tone subtly changes from one of valiant victory in the battle to that of piteous surrender to Death. Only in the last two lines of the poem is there a tone of hope and optimism when the poet asserts that man’s good deeds will never die.