1. If I'm content with what little I gain
Through toil of hand and sweat of brow

2. I'll be safe from misfortune's endless pain
So time, be now my aide, make good thy vow

3. Do not the stars in their rounds ordain
That joy returns after sorrow's plough?

4. Have patience, O my soul, restrain
Thy tears though all things crumble now

5. The poets made their dwelling in my mind
And built their stairs above my starry eyes

6. Whene'er you're close, you're but a touch unkind
How strange that one so near should prove unwise

7. If life's reward is but a grave assigned
How different the states of low and high!