The Fall of King Gold
This is a combination of two poems: The Reign of King Gold and The Downfall of Mammon. The first describes the degrading and dehumanising effects of greed; the second envisages a future time when people have repented of their ways and established a fairer and juster society. The song begins with the announcement (from the second poem) that the Reign of King Gold is over, then proceeds to a description of that reign (from the first poem) before returning to describe the future Utopian society.
The Reign of King Gold, sometimes called The Reign of Gold or King Gold, was an early poem which Skipsey clearly valued, often describing himself in publicity materials as 'Author of The Reign of King Gold' or some such phrase. It was published in Poems (1871) and then in A Book of Miscellaneous Lyrics (1878), Carols from the Coalfields (1886) and Carols, Songs and Ballads (1888).
The Downfall of Mammon appeared in A Book of Miscellaneous Lyrics (1878) and Carols from the Coalfields (1886) where it is the second of a group of ten poems entitled 'Psychic Poems' and has an alternative title: 'The Poet's Dream'.
The baleful era of King Gold is vanished
And men repenting of the part they played
From out the temple of the heart have
anished
The idols that debased the souls they
swayed.
It sounded in castle and palace
It sounded in cottage and shed
It sped over mountains and valleys
And withered the earth as it sped
Like a blast in its foul desecration
Of all that we dearly should hold
It thrilled through the nerves of the nation
A cry for the reign of King Gold.
Twas based upon fiendish persuasions
Cemented by crimes manifold
Embellished by specious ovations
That dazzled the foes of King Gold
And sympathy, rein’d in a halter
Was led to the temple and sold
Devotion herself, at the altar,
Paid homage alone to King Gold.
Affection on whose honey blossoms
The child of affliction still fed
Affection is plucked from the bosom
And malice implanted instead
And dark grow the brows of the tender
And colder the hearts of the cold;
Love, pity and justice surrender
Their charge to the hounds of King Gold
It sounded in castle and palace
It sounded in cottage and shed
It sped over mountains and valleys
And withered the earth as it sped
Like a blast in its foul desecration
Of all that we dearly should hold
It thrilled through the nerves of the nation -
Cling Clang for the reign of King Gold.
But now the baleful era of King Gold is vanished
And men repenting of the part they played
From out the temple of the heart have
vanished
The idols that debased the souls they swayed.
Instead of selfishness and actions cruel
Generous deeds inspired by love abound
And Charity’s esteemed a richer jewel
Than ever yet in Orient mine was found
Instead of lies and falsehood, grim and hideous,
Truth has triumphed; and whate’er obtains
Envy no longer can, with hints invidious
Cause man to visit brother man with pain.
No longer prompted by fell aspirations
Does man send havoc into realms afar
But gains from acts of peace more prized ovations
Than ever gratified the sons of war.
The baleful era of King Gold has vanished
The idols that debased the soul they chained
From out the temple of the heart are banished
And at last Utopia is obtained.
The use of the word Utopia at the end of the song is my own amendment. Skipsey's original poem refers instead to the Millennium.
The original of The Downfall of Mammon is given below:
THE DOWNFALL OF MAMMON;
OR, THE POET'S DREAM.
THE baleful era of King Gold has vanished,
And men disgusted with the part they played,
From out the temple of their hearts are banished
The idols that debased the souls they swayed.
Man yet hath passions and the cause of passions,
And so will have in his best future-state;
But he hath reason too, by which he fashions
Them into servants for a purpose great.
Instead of self-hood and of actions cruel,
Inspired by Love heroic deeds abound;
And Charity's esteemed a richer jewel
Than ever yet in Orient mine was found.
Instead of falsehood, Truth his speech inspireth,
Inspires his thought and permeates the man,
Till lo! the utter'd word a worth acquireth
Which merely written missives never can.
Instead of Superstition grim and hideous,
Religion triumphs, and whate'er obtain,
No longer Envy can, with hints invidious,
Cause man to visit brother man with pain.
Thus in ways manifold, sublime, and glorious,
The God-sprun tenants of the earth at last,
Arise o'er every mortal ill victorious,
That made their life a hell-life in the past.
No longer prompted by fell aspirations,
Doth man send havoc into realms afar
But gains from acts of peace more prized ovations Than ever gratified the sons of war.
No longer to his inner part disloyal,
He learneth, from the still small voice he scorn'd,
How to become a king in act, more royal
Than ever yet a throne of gold adorn'd.
No longer bound to themes abhorred or hated,
On highest subjects is the mind employed;
And as by war no Land is desolated,
From lack of love no heart is left a void.
By cords of sympathy before the altar,
Not chains of gold are youth and virgin led;
And when the trite "I will" their accents falter,
From hearts 'tis faltered in affection wed.
No want of union and no fatal duel
Fought by two hearts in silence grim, if not
In cruel actions or in words as cruel,
The lot of wedlock makes a bitter lot.
A circle round the hearth-stone, young and olden,
The family gather, and their feelings blend
And interblend, till in a concord golden
As one they labour for a noble end.
In time those circles form but inner circles
To circles greater, till the Nations act
As one vast soul whose sphere with glory sparkles,
And heaven, the dream on earth, is heaven the fact.
Onward and upward move the Nations, onward
And ever upward thus the earth-born move,
Till, like the gilded fane that pointeth sunward,
Their soul-flames touch the flames of those above.
Then, in a way hard to be comprehended,
As hills are cleft were hills ere time began,
So are the barriers asunder rended
Which kept apart the Angel and the Man.
Illumed by a light celestial, even
To them the light beyond the Veil's unfurled
And messages of import sweet are given
Unto the outer from the inner world.
Not dead are found those whom by death seemed captured,
Not tho' their dust be scattered by the wind—
Not dead but living, and with hearts enraptured,
Still toiling for the dear ones left behind.
United, soul to loving soul united—
Blent heaven and earth in one harmonic whole;
Glory to God shout one and all united,
And halleluiah rings from pole to pole.
The baleful era of King Gold is vanished;
The idols that debased the soul they chain'd,
From out the temple of the heart are banished;
And the Millenium's at last obtained.