Death of a Giant

Tags

Australian poet, Decline of civilizations, Decline of empires, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Rise and Fall, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭

You’ve had your time for basking in the sun,
But everything must die, even a giant.
Your face is pale — your race is almost run —
No longer are you fearless and defiant.
You once were dominant and self-reliant,
But now the dwarves have tied you to the ground.
You have become pathetic and compliant —
With bonds of your own making you are bound.
The dwarves all cheer — a little man is crowned —
He reads his speech — the writing’s on the wall.
His dwarfish slurring words declared profound
By all the dwarves who engineered your fall.
You breathe your last; the sky is dull and grey.
A scribe records: a giant has died this day.

— D.N. O’Brien