Lesson No. 13 - The Character of a Happy Life

THE CHARACTER OF A HAPPY LIFE(HENRY WOTTON *1568-1639)

How happy is he born and taught
That serveth not another's will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!

Whose passions not his masters are;
Whose soul is still prepared for death,
United unto the world by care
Of public fame of private breath;

Who envies none that chance doth raise,
Nor vice; who never understood
How deepest wounds are given by praise;
Nor rules of state, but rules of good;

Who hath his life from rumours freed;
Whose conscience is his strong retreat;
Whose state can neither flatterers feed,
Nor ruin make oppressors great;

Who god doth late and early pray
More of His grace than gifts to lend;
And entertains the harmless day
With a religious book or friend;

This man is freed from servile bands
Of hope to rise or fear to fail:
Lord of himself, though not of lamb,
And having nothing, yet hath all

Words - Meaning

Armour - steal covering for the body
Envy - feeling of disappointment at another's success
Humour - having or showing a sense of amusement
Conscience - one's inner sense of right and wrong
Flatterer - one who flatters
Oppressor - cruel person
Servile - slave like

EXERCISE

Theme of the poem.
Happy is a person who is born and educated, and does not become a slave of others. His strength is his honest thought and remains truthful in his conduct and behaviour.

Q:1 Answer the following questions.

i) What is the main idea of the poem?
Ans: Happy is a person who is born and educated, and does not become a slave of others. His strength is his honest thought and remains truthful in his conduct and behaviour.

ii) Underline the nouns in the poem.
Ans: The following nouns have been used in this poem.
Will, armour, thought, truth, skill, passions, masters, soul, death, world, care, fame, breath, raise, vice, wounds, praise, rules, state, good, life, rumours, conscience, retreat, flatterers, feed, oppressors, God, pray, grace, gifts, day, book, friend, man, bands, fear, Lord, lamb

iii) Make a list of the rhyming words in the poem.
Example: taught, thought
Ans: (taught, thought), (will, skill), (are, care), (death, breath), (raise, praise), (understood, good), (freed, feed), (retreat, great), (pray, day), (lend, friend), (bands, lamb), (fall, all)

Add two more rhyming words in each line.
i) born, corn, torn.
ii) soul, foul, bowl
iii) vice, rice, dice

Q:3 Paraphrase the second stanza in the poem.

Ans: Whose passions not his masters are;
Whose soul is still prepared for death,
United unto the world by care
Of public fame of private breath;

Reference:These lines have been taken from the poem, "The Character of a Happy Life" written by Henry Wotton.

Context:In this poem the poet describes the traits of a happy life He says that the man is really happy who is educated, truthful, honest in his thought and has no fear of death. He I s not jealous and flatterer. He enjoys the company of a religious book or good friends. He is not owner of any thing but has every thing.

Q:4 Explain the stanza.

This man is freed from servile bands
Of hope to rise or fear to fall:
Lord of himself, though not of lamb,
And having nothing, yet hath all

Reference:
These lines have been taken from the poem, "The Character of a Happy Life" written by Henry Wotton.

Context:In this poem the poet describes the traits of a happy life. He ssays that the man is really happy who is educated, truthful, honest in his thought and has no fear of death. He is not jealous and flatterer. He enjoys the company of a religious book or good friends. He is not owner of any thing but has every thing.

Explanation:
The poet says that this happy man has no hope to rise or fear to fall. He is not the owner of even a lamb but is lord of himself. He is not owner of any thing yet has everything

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WORD DIFFERENTIATION enter