Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/249

 SIR HENRY WOTTON

So, when my mistress shall be seen In form and beauty of her mind,

By virtue first, then choice, a Queen, Tell me, if she were not design'd Th' eclipse and glory of her kind?

189 The Character of a Happy Life

HOW happy is he born and taught That serveth not another's will ; Whose armour is his honest thought, And simple truth his utmost skill ' Whose passions not his masters are ; Whose soul is still prepared for death, Untied unto the world by care Of public fame or private breath ; Who envies none that chance doth raise, Nor vice; who never understood How deepest wounds are given by praise ; Nor rules of state, but rules of good, Who hath his life from rumours freed, Whose conscience is his strong retreat; Whose state can neither flatterers feed, Nor ruin make oppressors great ; Who God doth late and early pray More of His grace than gifts to lend, And entertains the harmless day With a religious book or friend; This man is freed from servile bands Of hope to rise or fear to fall. Lord of himself, though not of lands, And having nothing, yet hath all.

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