Wish not that things, not in your pow'r, may run
As you would have them; wish them as they're done;
Wish them just as they are, just as you see;
Thus shall you never disappointed be.
You seem some sharp disease to undergo,
Alas! 'tis vain to wish it were not so;
'Tis but the body's pain, a surly ill,
Which may impede the body, not the will:
For all the actions of th' obsequious mind
Are in thy pow'r, to thy own choice confin'd.
Thus strength and vigour may thy nerves forsake
And lameness from thy feet all motion take,
But can in thee not the least hindrance make.
'Tis in thy pow'r to resolve not to go,
Judge if it be an hindrance or no.
Thou on thy feet may'st an embargo lay,
As well as chance or natural decay.
Consider thus, in all things else thou'lt find
Nothing can hinder, or confine the mind;
In spite of ev'ry accident thou'rt free,
Those hinder something else, but cannot thee.