393. The Character of a Happy Life by Sir Henry Wooton
b"H Wooton read by Classic Poetry Aloud: Giving voice to the poetry of the past.\\nwww.classicpoetryaloud.com\\n\\n--------------------------------------------\\n\\nThe Character of a Happy Life\\nby Sir Henry Wooton (1568 \\u2013 1639)\\n\\nHow happy is he born and taught\\nThat serveth not another's will;\\nWhose armour is his honest thought,\\nAnd simple truth his utmost skill!\\n\\nWhose passions not his masters are;\\nWhose soul is still prepared for death,\\nUntied unto the world by care\\nOf public fame or private breath;\\n\\nWho envies none that chance doth raise,\\nNor vice; who never understood\\nHow deepest wounds are given by praise;\\nNor rules of state, but rules of good;\\n\\nWho hath his life from rumours freed;\\nWhose conscience is his strong retreat;\\nWhose state can neither flatterers feed,\\nNor ruin make oppressors great;\\n\\nWho God doth late and early pray\\nMore of His grace than gifts to lend;\\nAnd entertains the harmless day\\nWith a religious book or friend;\\n\\n\\u2014 This man is free from servile bands\\nOf hope to rise or fear to fall:\\nLord of himself, though not of lands,\\nAnd having nothing, yet hath all.\\n\\n\\nFirst aired: 4 February 2008\\n\\nFor hundreds more poetry readings, visit the Classic Poetry Aloud index.\\n\\nReading \\xa9 Classic Poetry Aloud 2009"