His Pilgrimage

Sir Walter RaleighEnglish RenaissancePoem

GIVE me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope’s true gage;
And thus I’ll take my pilgrimage.

Blood must be my body’s balmer;
No other balm will there be given;
Whilst my soul, like quiet palmer,
Travelleth towards the land of heaven;
Over the silver mountains,
Where spring the nectar fountains;
There will I kiss
The bowl of bliss;
And drink mine everlasting fill
Upon every milken hill.
My soul will be a-dry before;
But, after, it will thirst no more.

Cultural reading

Reading the poem

The speaker outfits himself with emblematic pilgrim's gear—scallop-shell, staff, scrip, bottle and gown—and imagines his soul travelling over silver mountains to nectar fountains where its thirst ends.

Language notes

Text and edition

The supplied text runs to two stanzas whose metrical shapes differ markedly, which suggests an anthology extract; its relation to any fuller original cannot be established from the heading and text given.