translated from the Latin by Henry Howard
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.
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on December 31, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.
