Contentment
My mind to me a kingdom is;Such perfect joy therein I findAs far excels all earthly blissThat God or Nature hath assigned;Though much I want that most would have,Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
Content I live; this is my stay,--I seek no more than may suffice.I press to bear no haughty sway;Look, what I lack my mind supplies.Lo, thus I triumph like a king,Content with that my mind doth bring.
I laugh not at another’s loss,I grudge not at another’s gain;No worldly wave 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;My conscience clear my chief defense;I never seek by bribes to pleaseNor by desert to give offense.Thus do I live, thus will I die;Would all did so as well as I!
Words in this poem
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Contentment is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, Contentment, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/contentment.html, id L25312.
Form and metre
Contentment is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCC isA · findB · blissA · assignedB · haveC · craveC
- 2 ABABCC stayA · sufficeB · swayA · suppliesB · kingC · bringC
- 3 ABABCC lossA · gainB · tossA · baneB · friendC · endC
- 4 ABABCC easeA · defenseB · pleaseA · offenseB · dieC · iC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My mind to me a kingdom is; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Such perfect joy therein I find | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| As far excels all earthly bliss | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That God or Nature hath assigned; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Though much I want that most would have, | 8 | ········ |
| Yet still my mind forbids to crave. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Content I live; this is my stay,-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| I seek no more than may suffice. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I press to bear no haughty sway; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Look, what I lack my mind supplies. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Lo, thus I triumph like a king, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Content with that my mind doth bring. | 8 | /˘······ |
| I laugh not at another’s loss, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| I grudge not at another’s gain; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| No worldly wave my mind can toss; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I brook that is another’s bane. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| I fear no foe, nor fawn on friend; | 8 | ········ |
| I loathe not life, nor dread mine end. | 8 | ········ |
| My wealth is health and perfect ease; | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| My conscience clear my chief defense; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| I never seek by bribes to please | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor by desert to give offense. | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Thus do I live, thus will I die; | 8 | ········ |
| Would all did so as well as I! | 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.