Meter 16

He that seeketh power must first strive
That he may of himself in his mind within
Lordship compass, lest he may be ever
To his sinful ways utterly subject.
From out of his spirit Jet him speedily pluck
The manifold cares that carry no profit ;
Let him cease a while his mournful sighing
For his evil fortune ; though all be his,
This world of ours, where’er begirdled

By ocean-waters, to him only given,
As far away as in the west
Outermost lieth an isle in ocean,
Where never is night known in summer,
Nor is the day in winter divided,
Into times parted, Tile (Thule) men call it—
Though that a man be sole master
Of all this island, and from thence onward
E’en to the Indies out in the east—
Yea, though all this be his own to govern,
How is his might any the more,
If of himself control he hath not,
Nor of his thoughts, nor thoroughly strive
Well to beware in word and in deed
Of all the sins of which we were speaking ?