"My mind to me a kingdom is; / Such perfect joy therein I find / That it excels all other bliss / Which God or nature hath assign'd."
— Dyer, Sir Edward (1543-1607)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
T. East
Date
1588
Metaphor
"My mind to me a kingdom is; / Such perfect joy therein I find / That it excels all other bliss / Which God or nature hath assign'd."
Metaphor in Context
My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such perfect joy therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
Which God or nature hath assign'd.
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
No princely port, nor wealthy store,
No force to win a victory,
No wily wit to salve a sore,
No shape to win a loving eye;
To none of these I yield as thrall,--
For why? my mind despise them all.
I see that plenty surfeit oft,
And hasty climbers soonest fall;
I see that such as are aloft
Mishap doth threaten most of all.
These get with toil and keep with fear;
Such cares my mind can never bear.
I press to bear no haughty sway,
I wish no more than may suffice,
I do no more than well I may,
Look, what I want my mind supplies.
Lo ! thus I triumph like a king,
My mind content with anything.
I laugh not at another's loss,
Nor grudge not at another's gain;
No worldly waves my mind can toss;
I brook that is another's bane.
I fear no foe, nor fawn on friend,
I loathe not life, nor dread mine end.
My wealth is health and perfect ease,
And conscience clear my chief defence;
I never seek by bribes to please,
Nor by desert to give offence.
Thus do I live, thus will I die,--
Would all did so as well as I!
Such perfect joy therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
Which God or nature hath assign'd.
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
No princely port, nor wealthy store,
No force to win a victory,
No wily wit to salve a sore,
No shape to win a loving eye;
To none of these I yield as thrall,--
For why? my mind despise them all.
I see that plenty surfeit oft,
And hasty climbers soonest fall;
I see that such as are aloft
Mishap doth threaten most of all.
These get with toil and keep with fear;
Such cares my mind can never bear.
I press to bear no haughty sway,
I wish no more than may suffice,
I do no more than well I may,
Look, what I want my mind supplies.
Lo ! thus I triumph like a king,
My mind content with anything.
I laugh not at another's loss,
Nor grudge not at another's gain;
No worldly waves my mind can toss;
I brook that is another's bane.
I fear no foe, nor fawn on friend,
I loathe not life, nor dread mine end.
My wealth is health and perfect ease,
And conscience clear my chief defence;
I never seek by bribes to please,
Nor by desert to give offence.
Thus do I live, thus will I die,--
Would all did so as well as I!
Categories
Provenance
Contributed by Justin Tonra
Citation
Text from Representative Poetry Online, poem edited by F. D. Hoeniger <Link to RPO>.
First published in William Byrd, Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie, Made into Musicke of Fiue Parts (London: T. East, 1588). Also circulated in manuscript and issued as a broadside.
On the contested authorship of the poem, which has also been attributed to the earl of Oxford, see Steven W. May's “Dyer, Sir Edward (1543–1607),†in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, January 2008, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8346 and his "The Authorship of 'My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is'" in Review of English Studies 26:104 (1975): 385-394.
First published in William Byrd, Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie, Made into Musicke of Fiue Parts (London: T. East, 1588). Also circulated in manuscript and issued as a broadside.
On the contested authorship of the poem, which has also been attributed to the earl of Oxford, see Steven W. May's “Dyer, Sir Edward (1543–1607),†in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004); online ed., ed. Lawrence Goldman, January 2008, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8346 and his "The Authorship of 'My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is'" in Review of English Studies 26:104 (1975): 385-394.
Date of Entry
01/26/2012
