MY MIND TO ME A KINGDOM IS (poem) - SIR EDWARD DYER

 

MY MIND TO ME A KINGDOM IS

                                - SIR EDWARD DYER

 

My mind to me a kingdom is

  Such present joys therein I find,

That it excels all other bliss

  That earth affords or grows by kind

Though much I want which most would have,

Yet still my mind forbids to crave.

 

No princely pomp, no wealthy store,

  No force to win the victory,

No wily wit to salve a sore,

  No shape to feed a loving eye;

To none of these I yield as thrall

For why my mind doth serve for all.

 

I see how plenty suffers oft;

  And hasty climbers soon do fall;

I see that those which are aloft

  Mishap doth threaten most of all;

They get with toil, they keep with fear:

Such cares my mind could never bear.

 

Content I 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 that my mind doth bring.

 

Some have too much, Yet still do crave;

  I little have and 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 leave; they pine, I live.

 

I laugh not at another’s loss;

  I grudge not at another’s gain;

No wordly waves my mind can toss;

  My state at one doth still remain.

I fear no foe, I fawn  no friend;

I loathe not life, nor dread my end.

 

Some weigh their pleasure by their lust,

  Their wisdom by their rage of will; 

Their treasure is their only trust,

  A cloaked craft their store of skill:

But all the pleasure that I find

Is to maintain a quiet mind.

 

My wealth is health and perfect ease,

  My conscience clear my choice defence;

I neither seek by brides to please,

  Nor by deceit to breed offence.

Thus do I live; thus will I die;

Would all did so as well as I !