A Litany in Time of Plague

Nashe begins the poem with the speaker’s exclamation “Adieu, farewell earth’s bliss; / This world uncertain is” (Lines 1-2). From the first lines, Nashe sets the tone for a serious meditation on death and the transience of life. Within the first stanza, the speaker also introduces the personified figure of Death, whose ominous presence looms throughout the poem. Death’s “darts” (Line 5) or arrows come for everyone, and no one can “fly” from or escape them. While the things of this world may be “uncertain,” the speaker is convinced of the certainty of death, particularly the speaker’s own oncoming death. With this increasing certainty of death and the foolishness of youthful, “lustful joys” (Line 3), the speaker concludes the first stanza with the poem’s constant refrain: “I am sick, I must die. / Lord, have mercy on us!” (Lines 6-7).

The progression of the lines in the refrain highlights the speaker’s growing despair. The speaker first acknowledges their sickness; then, with hardly any pause, the speaker immediately concludes they “must die,” for the “swift” (Line 12) and deadly effect of the plague is too obvious to ignore. Finally, the refrain references a plague prevention practice from Nashe’s era. During plague outbreaks in Renaissance England, the house of a person who had become infected with the bubonic plague was to be shut and locked up, with the words “Lord, have mercy on us” and a red cross painted on the door. The intent was to keep the disease contained far away from other people, leaving the sick person to recover or, more likely, to die alone. The speaker invokes that slogan as a last resort, a petition for God’s mercy in the face of imminent death. Like the practice of Nashe’s day, the speaker is resigned to die and already regards themselves among the dead.

The structure of the poem from the second to fifth stanza follows a catalogue of different types of people, who all, regardless of station and ability, cannot prevent their death. The second stanza addresses people of wealthy standing. Just as there is no way to “fly” from Death’s darts, gold and money “cannot buy…health” (Line 9), the speaker argues. “All things” must “end” (Line 11), including “physic himself” (Line 10) or the practice of medicine. Death, brought on by the “swift” plague, cannot be stopped by wealth or any medicine money can buy.

In the third stanza, the speaker transitions to the young and beautiful. The speaker dismisses beauty as just a “flower” (Line 15) that will soon be corrupted by “wrinkles” (Line 16) and “dust” (Line 19). “Brightness falls” (Line 17), and even the young and beautiful will age and eventually die. Even those who “died young and fair” (Line 18) like the beautiful Helen of Troy will be corrupted by dust and the decay of the grave and time. (For a more thorough exploration of Nashe’s allusions to Helen of Troy and Hector, see the “Symbols & Motifs” section).

The fourth stanza introduces the class of warriors, particularly focusing on the mythical figure Hector. Hector was the city of Troy’s strongest warrior, but even he was killed in battle by another hero, Achilles. Now, Hector’s “strength stoops unto the grave” (Line 22), and his body lies in the ground where worms “feed” (Line 23) on him. Death takes the strong and proves them to be so powerless that they cannot fight against their “fate” (Line 24) or even something as weak as worms. Nashe then shifts from the image of Hector to a metaphorical image of the physical earth, comparing it to a city whose gates are always “open” (Line 25) and whose bells are always ringing and welcoming new visitors joining the ranks of the dead. Death and even the earth itself are always seeking more souls, the speaker included.

Both the third and fourth stanzas incorporate and subvert certain elements of carpe diem poetry, poetry designed to inspire its audience to “seize the day.” 17th-century poet Andrew Marvell’s famous carpe diem poem “To His Coy Mistress” depicts a male speaker attempting to persuade a hesitant woman to engage in sex with him. To do so, he warns the woman that, when she dies, worms will “try” (Line 27) or test her “long-preserved virginity” (Line 28) and turn her “quaint honour” to “dust” (Line 29). Marvell’s reference to worms tunneling into and corrupting flesh reminds the woman of her physical body and how that body will eventually be penetrated and defiled in death, even if she refuses the speaker’s advances. In “A Litany in Time of Plague,” the reference to worms and bodily corruption is not meant to galvanize any sort of pleasurable experience. Instead, the reference serves as a reminder that the greatest of human excellence will be undone by death. Nashe’s speaker does not use the idea of death and physical decay to encourage his readers to live in the moment but rather to live for eternity.

The speaker’s meditation on death becomes much more personal for Nashe in the fifth stanza. Throughout Nashe’s career, his critics often accused him of having a perverse or “wanton” wit that would not be restrained by common decency. Here, like a Puritan preacher, Nashe’s speaker castigates Wit “with his wantonness” (Line 29) and disregards all art as “vain” (Line 33) in the face of Death, “Hell’s executioner” (Line 31). There is no “reply” (Line 33) or clever retort that Death will heed or “hear” (Line 32). No wit, even one as brilliant as Nashe’s, can stave off the plague and prevent death’s coming.

The whole poem is somber and reflective, but it is the final stanza that fully embraces its didactic tone. While there is some metaphorical language throughout the poem, the speaker is not interested in flaunting his wit and ingenuity here. The final stanza instead shifts to imperative sentences and commands. Having described how all different kinds of people must succumb to mortality, the speaker urges their audience to consider these examples. The speaker orders all to “haste” (Line 36) towards Heaven, “our heritage” (Line 38), and to “welcome destiny” (Line 37) or death as an escape from Earth, a mere “player’s stage” (Line 39) in comparison to eternity. The speaker finally commands readers to “mount…unto the sky” (Line 40), accepting death, not with dread and fear, but with anticipation of better things to come. The final stanza and the poem comes to a close with a repetition of the refrain, in which the speaker once more acknowledges the imminence of his death and pleads for God’s mercy one last time.