Martial, the things that do attain
The 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 estate,
Ne wish for death, ne fear his might.
– translated from the Latin by Henry Howard
Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis) (c. 38–104 CE) was a renowned Latin poet from Hispania famous for perfecting the witty, satirical epigram in Rome.
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517?–1547), was a pivotal Tudor poet, courtier, and soldier who helped introduce the Italian sonnet form to England and invented blank verse. Alongside Sir Thomas Wyatt, he founded English Renaissance poetry, developing the English sonnet rhyme scheme later used by Shakespeare.
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