If you seek to be mighty, avoid the wrath
Of ruthless will, and strive to stay unchained
From the base grip of carnal servitude;
For even if your empire spans the Indian sea
And fear of you shakes the farthest Thule,
If your desires hold mastery over you,
Subject you become, and no longer ruler.
If your heart aspires to nobility and height,
Reflect upon your roots and origin;
For He who placed the stars in heavenly arcs,
And granted the Moon her crescents and eclipses,
Likewise has made you noble in His design:
Thus, miserable you cannot be,
Unless vile lust and vice overwhelm you.
Even if you possessed a river of gold
To satiate your thirst, it would not suffice;
And though laden with gems from distant Ind,
A thousand times more precious than you can imagine,
Your greed and constant gnawing would not cease
To torment your wretched life, nor aid your death.
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If thou wilt mighty be, flee from the rage
Of cruel will, and see thou keep thee free
From the foul yoke of sensual bondage;
For though thy Empire stretch to Indian sea
And for thy fear trembleth the farthest Thylee,
If thy desire have over thee the power,
Subject then art thou and no governor.
If to be noble and high thy mind be moved,
Consider well thy ground and thy beginning;
For he that hath each star in heaven fixed,
And gives the Moon her horns and her eclipsing,
Alike hath made thee noble in his working:
So that wretched no way thou may be,
Except foul lust and vice do conquer thee.
All were it so thou had a flood of gold
Unto thy thirst, yet should it not suffice;
And though with Indian stones, a thousandfold
More precious than can thy self devise
Ycharged were thy back: thy covetise
And busy biting yet should never let
Thy wretched life, ne do thy death profit.
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