The Means to attain Happy Life
Martial, the things that do attainThe happy life be these, I find:--The richesse left, not got with pain;The fruitful ground, the quiet mind;The equal friend; no grudge, no strife;No charge of rule, nor governance;Without disease, the healthful life;The household of continuance;
The mean diet, no delicate fare;True wisdom join’d with simpleness;The night dischargèd of all care,Where wine the wit may not oppress.
The faithful wife, without debate;Such sleeps as may beguile the night:Contented with thine own estateNe wish for death, ne fear his might.
Words in this poem
- richesse n.
- Wealth; riches. See the Note under Riches. [F. See Riches.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- governance n.
- Exercise of authority; control; government; arrangement. [F. gouvernance.]
- simpleness n.
- The quality or state of being simple; simplicity.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Means to attain Happy Life is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, The Means to attain Happy Life, in Poems (1516–1547), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-henry-howard-earl-of-surrey/the-means-to-attain-happy-life.html, id L15960.
Form and metre
The Means to attain Happy Life is 16 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABC-C- attainA · findB · painA · mindB · strifeC · governance · lifeC · continuance
- 2 ABAB fareA · simplenessB · careA · oppressB
- 3 ABAB debateA · nightB · estateA · mightB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Martial, the things that do attain | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| The happy life be these, I find:-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The richesse left, not got with pain; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The fruitful ground, the quiet mind; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The equal friend; no grudge, no strife; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No charge of rule, nor governance; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Without disease, the healthful life; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The household of continuance; | 8 | ·/··˘/˘˘ |
| The mean diet, no delicate fare; | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| True wisdom join’d with simpleness; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The night dischargèd of all care, | 7 | ······· |
| Where wine the wit may not oppress. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The faithful wife, without debate; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Such sleeps as may beguile the night: | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Contented with thine own estate | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Ne wish for death, ne fear his might. | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.