I'd just as soon a beggar as king,
And the reason I'll tell you for why;
A read more

I'd just as soon a beggar as king,
And the reason I'll tell you for why;
A king cannot swagger, not drink like a beggar,
Nor be half so happy as I.
. . . .
Let the back and side go bare.

Borrowing is not much better than begging.
[Ger., Borgen ist nicht viel besser als betteln.]

Borrowing is not much better than begging.
[Ger., Borgen ist nicht viel besser als betteln.]

A beggar through the world am I,
From place to place I wander by.
Fill up my read more

A beggar through the world am I,
From place to place I wander by.
Fill up my pilgrim's scrip for me,
For Christ's sweet sake and charity.

Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks, but I thank you; and
sure, dear friends, my read more

Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks, but I thank you; and
sure, dear friends, my thanks are too dear a halfpenny.

It needs not nor it boots thee not, proud queen,
Unless the adage must be verified,
That read more

It needs not nor it boots thee not, proud queen,
Unless the adage must be verified,
That beggars mounted run their horse to death.

He who begs timidly courts a refusal.
[Lat., Qui timide rogat,
Docet negare.]

He who begs timidly courts a refusal.
[Lat., Qui timide rogat,
Docet negare.]

Better a living beggar than a buried emperor.
[Fr., Mieux vaut goujat debout qu'empereur enterre.]

Better a living beggar than a buried emperor.
[Fr., Mieux vaut goujat debout qu'empereur enterre.]

Not that I have the power to clutch my hand
When his fair angels would salute by palm,
read more

Not that I have the power to clutch my hand
When his fair angels would salute by palm,
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say there is no vice but beggary.

To get thine ends, lay bashfulnesse aside;
Who fears to aske, doth teach to be deny'd.

To get thine ends, lay bashfulnesse aside;
Who fears to aske, doth teach to be deny'd.