Oppressed, and sunk, and staved all in my way
That did oppose me to my longéd bay.
My thirst was higher than nobility—

I oft longed sore to taste of royalty.

Then kings must be deposed or put to flight,
I might possess that throne which was their right;
There set, I rid myself straight out of hand
Of such competitors as might in time withstand,
Then thought my state firm founded, sure to last.
But in a trice 't is ruined by a blast;

Though cemented with more than noble blood,
The bottom naught, and so no longer stood.
Sometimes vain glory is the only bait
Whereby my empty soul is lured and caught.
Be I of wit, of learning, and of parts,

I judge I should have room in all men's hearts.
And envy gnaws if any do surmount:

I hate not to be held in highest account.
If, Bias like, I'm stripped unto my skin,
I glory in my wealth I have within.

Thus good and bad, and what I am, you see.
Now, in a word, what my diseases be:
The vexing stone in bladder and in reins;

The strangury torments me with sore pains;

The windy colic oft my bowels rend

To break the darksome prison where it's penned;
The cramp and gout doth sadly torture me,
And the restraining lame sciatica;

The asthma, megrim, palsy, lethargy,

The quartan ague, dropsy, lunacy:
Subject to all distempers, that's the truth,
Though some more incident to Age or Youth.
And to conclude I may not tedious be:
Man at his best estate is vanity.

OLD AGE.

What you have been, e'en such have I before; And all you say, say I, and somewhat more. Babe's innocence, Youth's wildness, I have seen, And in perplexéd Middle Age have been; Sickness, dangers, anxieties, have passed,

And on this stage am come to act

my last. I have been young, and strong, and wise as you, But now Bis pueri senes is too true. In every age I've found much vanity; An end of all perfection now I see. It's not my valor, honor, nor my gold My ruined house, now falling, can uphold; It's not my learning, rhetoric, wit so large Hath now the power death's warfare to discharge; It's not my goodly state, nor bed of down, That can refresh or ease if conscience frown; Nor from alliance can I now have hope. But what I have done well, that is my prop. He that in youth is godly, wise, and sage Provides a staff then to support his age.

Mutations great, some joyful and some sad,

In this short pilgrimage I oft have had.

Sometimes the heavens with plenty smiled on me;
Sometimes, again, rained all adversity;

Sometimes in honor, sometimes in disgrace;
Sometimes an abject, then again in place.
Such private changes oft mine eyes have seen.
In various times of state I've also been:
I've seen a kingdom flourish like a tree,
When it was ruled by that celestial she,
And, like a cedar, others so surmount

That but for shrubs they did themselves account.
Then saw I France and Holland saved, Calais won,
And Philip and Albertus half undone.

I saw all peace at home, terror to foes.
But, ah! I saw at last those eyes to close;
And then methought the day at noon grew dark
When it had lost that radiant sun-like spark.
In midst of griefs I saw our hopes revive,

For 't was our hopes then kept our hearts alive.
We changed our queen for king, under whose rays
We joyed in many blest and prosperous days.
I've seen a prince, the glory of our land,

In prime of youth seized by heaven's angry hand,
Which filled our hearts with fears, with tears our eyes,
Wailing his fate and our own destinies.

I've seen from Rome an execrable thing —

A plot to blow up nobles and their king;

But saw their horrid fact soon disappointed,
And land and nobles saved, with their anointed.
I've princes seen to live on others' lands;

A royal one by gifts from strangers' hands
Admired for their magnanimity,

Who lost a princedom and a monarchy.

I've seen designs for Ré and Rochelle crossed,

And

poor Palatinate forever lost.

I've seen unworthy men advanced high,

And better ones suffer extremity;

But neither favor, riches, title, state,

Could length their days or once reverse their fate—
I've seen one stabbed, and some to lose their heads,
And others flee, struck both with guilt and dread.
I've seen, and so have you, for 't is but late,
The desolation of a goodly state,

Plotted and acted so that none can tell

Who gave the counsel but the prince of hell
Three hundred thousand slaughtered innocents
By bloody popish, hellish miscreants.

Oh, may you live, and so you will, I trust,
To see them swill in blood until they burst.

I've seen a king by force thrust from his throne,
And an usurper subtilely mount thereon.
I've seen a state unmolded, rent in twain;
But you may live to see it made up again.

I've seen it plundered, taxed, and soaked in blood;
But out of evil you may see much good.

What are my thoughts this is no time to say.
Men may more freely speak another day.

These are no old-wives' tales, but this is truth;
We old men love to tell what was done in youth.
But I return from whence I stepped awry.
My memory is bad, my brain is dry;

Mine almond tree, gray hairs, do flourish now,
And back, once straight, apace begins to bow;
My grinders now are few, my sight doth fail,
My skin is wrinkled, and my cheeks are pale.
No more rejoice at music's pleasing noise,
But, waking, glad to hear the cock's shrill voice.
I cannot scent savors of pleasant meat,

Nor sapors find in what I drink or eat.

My arms and hands, once strong, have lost their might;
I cannot labor, much less can I fight.

My comely legs, once nimble as the roe,
Now stiff and numb can hardly creep or go.
My heart, sometime as fierce as lion bold,
Now trembling is, all fearful, sad, and cold.
My golden bowl and silver cord ere long
Shall both be broke by racking death so strong:
Then shall I go whence I shall come no more,
Sons, nephews, leave my farewell to deplore.
In pleasures and in labors I have found
That earth can give no consolation sound
To great, to rich, to poor, to young, to old,
To mean, to noble, to fearful, or to bold: