Accurs’d be he that first invented war

Christopher Marlowe (1564‐1593)

Accurs'd be he that first invented war!
They knew not, ah, they knew not, simple men,
How those were hit by pelting cannonshot
Stand staggering like a quivering aspen-leaf
Fearing the force of Boreas's boisterous blasts!
In what a lamentable case where I,
If nature had not given me wisdom's lore!
For kings are clouts that every man shoots at,
Our crown the pin that thousands seek to cleave:
Therefore in policy I think it good, 
To hide it close; a goodly stratagem,
And far from any man that is a fool:
So  shall not I be known; or if I be,
They cannot take away my crown from me. 
Here will I hide it in this simple hole.