But ask not thou if happiness be there,
If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe,
Or if read more

But ask not thou if happiness be there,
If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe,
Or if the brow the heart's true livery wear.

Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.

Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.

Short boughs, long vintage.

Short boughs, long vintage.

Confusion's cure lives not
In these confusions.

Confusion's cure lives not
In these confusions.

That's the best gowne that goes up and downe the house.

That's the best gowne that goes up and downe the house.

Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise,
(That last infirmity of noble mind)
To read more

Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise,
(That last infirmity of noble mind)
To scorn delights, and live laborious days;
But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
And think to burst out into sudden blaze,
Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorred shears,
And slits the thin-spun life.

You should trust any man in his own art provided he is skilled in
it.

You should trust any man in his own art provided he is skilled in
it.

Not perfect, nay, but full of tender wants.

Not perfect, nay, but full of tender wants.

A leech that will not quit the skin until sated with blood.

A leech that will not quit the skin until sated with blood.