Perirrhanterium

Agapanthus
Claude Monet

14

Fly idleness, which yet thous canst not fly

By dressing, mistressing, and compliment.

If those take up thy day, the sun will cry

Against thee: for his light was only lent.

God gave thy soul brave wings; put not those feathers

Into a bed, to sleep out all ill weathers.

25

By all means use sometimes to be alone.

Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear.

Dare to look in thy chest; for 'tis thine own:

And tumble up and down what thou find'st there.

Who cannot rest till he good fellows find,

He breaks up house, turns out of doors his mind.

28

Yet in they thriving still misdoubt some evil;

Lest gaining gain on thee, and make thee dim

To all things else. Wealth is the conjurer's devil;

Whom when he thinks he hath, the devil hath him.

Gold thou mayst safely touch; but if it stick

Unto thy hands, it woundeth to the quick.

44

Envy not greatness: for thou mak'st thereby

Thyself the worse, and so the distance greater.

Be not thine own worm: yet such jealousy,

As hurts not others, but may make thee better,

Is a good spur. Correct thy passions' spite;

Then may the beasts draw thee to happy light.

52

Be calm in arguing: for fierceness makes

Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.

Why should I feel another man's mistakes

More than his sicknesses or poverty?

In love I should: but anger is not love,

Nor wisdom neither: therefore gently move.

54

Mark what another says: for many are

Full of themselves, and answer their own notion.

Take all into thee; then with equal care

Balance each dram of reason, like a potion.

If truth be with thy friend, be with them both:

Share in the conquest, and confess a troth.

71

Let vain or busy thoughts have there no part:

Bring not thy plough, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.

Christ purged his temple; so must thou thy heart.

All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together

To cozen thee. Look to thy actions well:

For chuches are either our heav'n or hell.

76

Sum up at night, what thou hast done by day;

And in the morning, what thou hast to do.

Dress and undress thy soul: mark the decay 

And growth of it: if with thy watch, that too

Be down, then wind up both; since we shall be

Most surely judged, make thy accounts agree.

77

In brief, acquit thee bravely; play the man.

Look not on pleasures as they come, but go.

Defer not the least virtue: life's poor span

Make not an ell, by trifling in thy woe.

If thou do ill; the joy fades, not the pains:

If well; the pain doth fade, the joy remains.

- George Herbert, 1593-1633