by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Happy he
Language: English
Happy he Who, to sweet home retired, Shuns glory so admired, And to himself lives free, Whilst he who strives with pride to climb the skies Falls down with foul disgrace before he rise. Let who will The active life commend And all his travels bend Earth with his fame to fill: Such fame, so forced, at last dies with his death, Which life maintain’d by others’ idle breath. My delights, To dearest home confined, Shall there make good my mind Not aw’d with fortune’s spites: High trees heaven blasts, winds shake and honors fell, When lowly plants long time in safety dwell. All I can, My worldly strife shall be They one day say of me ‘He died a good old man’: On his sad soul a heavy burden lies Who, known to all, unknown to himself dies.
Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. by A. H. Bullen, London, John C. Nimmo, 1887, pages 36-37.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Robert Jones (fl. 1597-1615), "Happy he", published 1608, from the collection Ultimum Vale, or the Third Booke of Ayres [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-25
Line count: 24
Word count: 140