Paige Hammock - "The Pilgrimage by Sir Walter Raleigh, Knight After his CONDEMNATION, the day before his death" (Sir Walter Raleigh)

            Sir Walter Raleigh (approx. 1554 -1618) was a well-liked member of the court and was a significant literary figure during the Elizabethan era. His efforts in the colonization of the New World as well as his participation fighting in Ireland were not unnoticed by Elizabeth, with whom he had a close relationship for most of his life thereafter. Consequently, James I was not a fan of and was threatened by Raleigh. Upon coming to the throne, James sentenced Raleigh to death for allegedly “planning” to change the religion of the country, assist the Spanish in overthrowing him, and to boost negativity toward James among the people.[1] Despite his sentence, the overwhelming outrage in Raleigh’s favor was enough for James to put off following through with the sentence. Instead, James kept Raleigh locked in the Tower for 13 years and released him, then change his mind in 1618 and behead him.

            The original copy of “The Pilgrimage,” other editions sometimes referring to it as “His Pilgrimage,” is from London, printed by George Larkin in Scalding-Alley, in the Poultrey in 1681, 80 years after Raleigh’s sentencing and 63 years after his actual death.

            The edited copy below has been changed in a few ways for ease of reading. Unless denoted with a footnote, words have been changed to their modern spellings - for instance, the use of the long s and the use of u for v has changed to contemporary spellings. Some were left in their original form to keep with Raleigh’s intended rhythm, but none were replaced. Words that are out of date or have unclear definitions are defined by the OED either to the side of the line or are footnoted. Punctuation has remained untouched to keep with rhythm and rhyme of the poem, but capitalizations of most words have been reduced to be modern (again, unless where noted). Additionally, starting with the fourth stanza, I have separated the stanzas myself to follow the pattern of the first three, since in the original copy all stanzas following the first three were one block of text. The overall edition is intended to be very close to the original document.

The Pilgrimage by Sir Walter Raleigh, Knight

After his CONDEMNATION, the day before his death.

Give me my scallop-shell[2] of quiet,

My staff of faith to lean upon;

My scripº of joy, immortal diet,                                              wallet/satchel

My bottle of salvation;

My gown of glory, hopes true gage:[3]

And thus I’ll goº my pilgrimage.                                            take

Blood my be my body’s balm,[4]

For here no other balm is given,

Whilst my soul, like a quiet palm,º                                          pilgrim

Travels to the land of heaven,

And there I’ll kiss the bowl of bliss,[5]

And drink m’eternal fill on ev’ry milky hill.  

My soul may beº a thirst before;                                             have

But after, it shall ne’er thirst more.º                                        anymore

And in this happy blissful way

More painful º pilgrims I shall see,                                          diligent

Which have put off their rags of clay,

And go apparell’d fresh, like me:

I’ll bring them first to quench their thirst

To pure wells where sweetness dwells;

And then to taste of nectar-suckets,º                                      candied fruits

Drawn up by saints in crystal buckets.[6]

And when our bottles, and all we,

Are fill’d with immortality,

The holy paths of heav’n we’ll travel,

With rubies strew’d as thick as gravel;

Ceilings of di’monds, sapphire-floors,

High walls of corral, pearly-bow’rs.[7]

And then to heav’ns bribeless hall,                                        

Where no corrupted voices bawl;

No conscience molded into gold;

No forg’d accuser bought nor sold;

No cause deferr’d, no vain-spent journey;[8]

For CHRIST himself’s the Kings attourney,

Who pleads for all, without degrees;

For He hath angels,[9] but no fees.[10]

And when the grand twelve-million jury

Of all my sins, shall, in a fury,

Against my soul black verdict give;

Christ pleads His death, and I shall live.

Great counsellor! Plead thou my cause;

In thy proceedings can be found no flaws;

Thou won’st salvation as an alms,

Not by the lawyers bribed palms.

And this shall be my eternal plea,

To Him that made heav’n, earth, and sea,

That since my flesh must die so soon,

And want a head to dine next noon;

Even at the stroke when my veins spread,[11]

Set on my soul an everlasting head.

            Then I am ready, like a palmer º fit,                            pilgrim

            To thread those paths that I before have writ.

Works Cited

Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford English Dictionary. Web. November 9, 2012 - December 10, 2012.

Powell, William S. “John Pory on the Death of Sir Walter Raleigh.” The William and Mary Quarterly. Third Series, Vol. 9, No. 4. (Oct. 1952): pg. 532-538. Web. December 3,
2012.

Rudolph, Conrad. Pilgrimage to the End of the World: The Road to Santiago de Compostela. 2nd Ed. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2004. Print.

Spenser, Edmund. “The Faerie Queene.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Renaissance and the Early Seventeenth Century. Vol. 2. Ed. Joseph Black et. al. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2009. pg. 141-240. Print.

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[1] Powell, William S. “John Pory on the Death of Sir Walter Raleigh.” The William and Mary Quarterly. pg. 533

[2] scallop-shell -  Original spelling is “scollap-shell.” The scallop shell was the badge of the pilgrim, commonly used in art with the apostle James, and alludes to the Catholic pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (a tradition dating back to the 12th century), one undertaken unaccompanied, with the goal of attaining religious enlightenment. More information can be found in Conrad Rudolph’s book Pilgrimage to the End of the World: The Road to Santiago de Compostela.

[3] hopes true gage - could be in terms of measurement as in “gauge.” Also, could be used as “a pledge of a person’s appearance to do battle in support of his assertion” in that he is gladly standing behind his religious views because they will ultimately be rewarded in the afterlife with hope, or a “haven... in the midst of fens, or marshes, or wastelands” (OED)

[4] balm - either used for embalming, also a “fragrant oil used for anointing” (OED Online)

[5] bowl of bliss - No definition available. Possibly a bowl of wine, as a symbol of sacrifice, such as in Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene. (Book II, Canto XII, Line 66)

[6] In the original copy, the word “And” appears below this line tabbed over. At the ends of pages during the time this what written, the first word of the next page appeared at the bottom of the one proceeding it. I have removed it here for consistency with my edition.

[7] bow’rs - An “idealized abode” (OED Online)

[8] “Where no corrupted voices... vain-spent journey” Referring to his own trial, which was considered “one of the most astonishing ‘frame-ups’ in English judicial history.” (Powell)

[9] angels - Used here as a play on words; can refer either to angels of God, or to a type of coin currency (OED)

[10] The capitalization and italics emphasis here is true to the original copy. I have left it alone because it seems to be in keeping with Raleigh’s desired tone and effect. I’ve also left the capitalizations of the words “Him” or “He” because they reflect similar contemporary capitalizations when referring to God.

[11] veins spread - Referring to when he is beheaded.