From The Passionate Man’s Pilgrimage
By Sir Walter Raleigh
 
[Supposed to be written by one at the point of death]
 
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 a white palmer,
Travels to the land of heaven;
Over the silver mountains,
Where spring the nectar fountains;
And there I’ll kiss
The bowl of bliss,
And drink my eternal fill
On every milken hill.
My soul will be a-dry before,
But after it will ne’er thirst more;
And by the happy blissful way
More peaceful pilgrims I shall see,
That have shook off their gowns of clay,
And go apparelled fresh like me.
I’ll bring them first
To slake their thirst,
And then to taste those nectar suckets,
At the clear wells
Where sweetness dwells,
Drawn up by saints in crystal buckets.
 
   And when our bottles and all we
Are fill’d with immortality,
Then the holy paths we’ll travel,
Strew’d with rubies thick as gravel,
Ceilings of diamonds, sapphire floors,
High walls of coral, and pearl bowers.


 
This delightful poem about pilgrimage—and the afterlife—was written by Sir Walter Raleigh. Yes, that Sir Walter Raleigh, the one who gave his name to the capital of North Carolina, funded the failed Roanoke expedition, traveled twice to South America in search of “El Dorado,” the fabled city of gold, was a favorite of Elizabeth the First and then imprisoned by her in the Tower of London, went on to more adventures, was ordered back to the Tower by Elizabeth’s successor James I, and was eventually executed at the age of 66.
 
Raleigh was a contemporary of Shakespeare and Marlowe and a friend of Edmund Spenser, and somehow found time to be a writer of poetry and prose. His poem “The Passionate Man’s Pilgrimage” is one of his best-known lyrics. It is thought to have been written in 1603, during one of Raleigh’s imprisonments.
 
Pilgrimage is a big part of the Catholic tradition. One of the first great works in English is of course Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, about a group of pilgrims on their way to pray at the tomb of St. Thomas Becket. When England broke away from the Catholic Church, the practice of pilgrimage was largely suppressed. But the imagery of pilgrimage survived—as we see in the opening lines of Raleigh’s poem.
 
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.
 
Raleigh uses images of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: the scallop shell, staff, scrip, bottle, and cloak. He makes it clear that he is speaking spiritually, not literally: the scallop shell is quiet, the staff is faith, the scrip is joy, the bottle is salvation, the gown is glory. This is not an earthly pilgrimage, but a heavenly one: this is the journey that begins at death, and ends in heaven.
 
The description of heaven is one of the most playful and charming you’ll come across! Silver mountains, nectar fountains, wells of sweetness drawn up by “saints in crystal buckets”!  The ground is strewn with rubies, and everything is made of diamond, sapphire, coral, and pearl. It seems very typical of Raleigh the treasure-hunter to point out the precious stones—but he also seems aware that in this holy place, they are not what is most valuable. The rubies are mere “gravel,” and as for the gold which Raleigh searched for throughout his life, he does not mention it here. This is no “El Dorado” but something much more precious!
 
In this Year of Jubilee, millions of Catholics will go on pilgrimage—to Rome, or to many other shrines around the world, including our own Cathedral. For us, as for Raleigh, pilgrimage continues to be a deeply meaningful practice. In the Bull of Indiction for this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis writes, “Pilgrimage is… a fundamental element of every Jubilee event. Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life.” (Spes non confundit, 24) Every pilgrimage is a symbol—and a preparation for—the ultimate pilgrimage that leads to eternal life.
 
I would encourage you to read the whole of Raleigh’s poem when you have time. The part we read playfully imagines heaven—the end of the poem playfully imagines Raleigh’s execution! He writes:
 
…this is my eternal plea
To him that made heaven, earth, and sea,
Seeing my flesh must die so soon,
And want a head to dine next noon,
Just at the stroke when my veins start and spread,
Set on my soul an everlasting head.
Then am I ready, like a palmer fit,
To tread those blest paths which before I writ.
 
I hope we will all be able to experience a pilgrimage during this Jubilee Year. Whether short or long, it’s a spiritual practice that can help us live more fully—and look to our ultimate journey with hope!

Corinna Laughlin