Thomas Campion. The Man of Life Upright (II)

Two Bookes of Ayres:
The First Booke
                   II.

Note: Two Bookes of Ayres (1613?) version.

The man of life vpright,
Whose chearfull minde is free
From waight of impious deedes,
And yoake of vanitee ;

The man whose silent dayes
In harmelesse ioyes are spent,
Whom hopes cannot delude
Nor sorrowes discontent ;

That man needes neyther towres,
Nor armour for defence :           10
Nor vaults his guilt to shrowd
From thunders violence ;

Hee onely can behold
With vnaffrighted eyes
The horrors of the deepe
And terrors of the Skies.

Thus, scorning all the cares
That fate or fortune brings,
His Booke the Heau'ns hee makes,
His wisedome heau'nly things ;     20

Good thoughts his surest friends,
His wealth a well-spent age,
The earth his sober Inne,
And quiet pilgrimage.

Caravaggio. The Inspiration of St. Matthew, 1602.

View the 1601 and 1613(?) versions side by side

Music:
"The Man of Life Upright " by Campion, Thomas (1567-1620).
Sequenced by Allan Alexander. Used with permission.

Text source:
Campion, Thomas. Campion's Works. Percival Vivian, Ed.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909. 117-118.

to Works of Thomas Campion