THE man of life upright, Whose guiltless heart is free From all dishonest deeds, Or thought of vanity; The man whose silent days In harmless joys are spent, Whom hopes cannot delude, Nor sorrow discontent; That man needs neither towers Nor armour for defence, Nor secret vaults to fly From thunder's violence: He only can behold With unaffrighted eyes The horrors of the deep And terrors of the skies. Thus, scorning all the cares That fate or fortune brings, He makes the heaven his book, His wisdom heavenly things; Good thoughts his only friends, His wealth a well-spent age, The earth his sober inn And quiet pilgrimage. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WISE WOMAN by SARA TEASDALE JEALOUSY by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE LULLABY by CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON BINSEY POPLARS (FELLED 1879) by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 54 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN ASTRONOMY by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN THE FIRST FIRE by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD ANNIVERSARIUM BAPTISMI (5) by JOSEPH BEAUMONT THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 60. THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |