"My mind to me a kingdom is,
Such perfect joy therein I find,
As far exceeds all earthly bliss,
That God or nature hath assign'd:
Though much I want, that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
"Content to live, this is my stay;
I seek no more than may suffice:
I press to bear no haughty sway,
Look, what I lack, _my mind supplies_.
Lo! thus I triumph like a king,
Content with what my mind doth bring.
"I see how plenty surfeits oft,
And hasty climbers soonest fall,
I see that such as sit aloft,
Mishap doth threaten most of all:
These get with toil, and keep with fear,
Such cares my mind could never bear.
"No princely pomp, nor wealthy store,
No force to win a victory,
No wily wit to salve a sore,
No shape to win a lover's eye.
To none of these I yield as thrall,
For why? my mind despiseth all.
"Some have too much, yet still they crave;
I little have, yet seek no more,
They are but poor, though much they have,
And I am rich with little store:
They poor, I rich; they beg, I give,
They lack, I lend; they pine, I live.
"I laugh not at another's loss,
I grudge not at another's gain;
No worldly wave my mind can toss,
I brook what is another's bane;
I fear no foe, nor fawn no friend,
I loathe not life, nor dread its end.
"My wealth is health--and perfect ease,
My conscience clear, my chief defence:
I never seek by bribes to please,
Nor by desert to give offence;
Thus do I live, thus will I die,
Would all did so, as well as I.
"I take no joy in earthly bliss,
I weigh not Crœsus' wealth a straw;
For care, I care not what it is,
I fear not Fortune's fatal law.
My mind is such as may not move,
For beauty bright, or force of love.
"I wish but what I have at will,
I wander not, to seek for more;
I like the plain, I climb no hill,
In greatest storms, I sit on shore;
And laugh at them who toil in vain,
To get what must be lost again.
"I kiss not where I wish to kill,
I feign not love where most I hate,
I break no sleep to win my will,
I wait not at the miser's gate.
I scorn no poor, I fear no rich,
I feel no want, nor have too much.
"The court nor camp I like, nor loathe,
Extremes are counted worst of all,
The golden mean between them both,
Doth surest sit, and fears no fall.
This is my choice; for why? I find,
_No wealth is like a quiet mind_."