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| I WEIGH not fortune’s frown or smile; | |
| I joy not much in earthly joys; | |
| I seek not state, I reck not style; | |
| I am not fond of fancy’s toys: | |
| I rest so pleased with what I have, | 5 |
| I wish no more, no more I crave. | |
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| I quake not at the thunder’s crack; | |
| I tremble not at news of war; | |
| I swound not at the news of wrack; | |
| I shrink not at a blazing star; | 10 |
| I fear not loss, I hope not gain, | |
| I envy none, I none disdain. | |
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| I see ambition never pleased; | |
| I see some Tantals starved in store; | |
| I see gold’s dropsy seldom eased; | 15 |
| I see even Midas gape for more; | |
| I neither want nor yet abound,— | |
| Enough ’s a feast, content is crowned. | |
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| I feign not friendship where I hate; | |
| I fawn not on the great (in show); | 20 |
| I prize, I praise a mean estate,— | |
| Neither too lofty nor too low: | |
| This, this is all my choice, my cheer,— | |
| A mind content, a conscience clear. | |
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