Classic Poem

Come all the world submit yourselves to Care,
And him acknowledge for your chiefest king;
With him no king or keisar may compare,
Who bears so great a sway in everything;
At home, abroad, in peace and eke in war,
Care chiefly stands to either make or mar.

The court he keeps is in a wise conceit,
His house a head where reason rules the wit;
His seat the heart, that hateth all deceit,
His bed the brain that feels no frantic fit,
His diet is the cates of sweet content;
Thus is his life in heavenly pleasure spent.

His kingdom is the whole world round about;
Sorrow his sword to such as do rebel;
His counsel wisdom that decides each doubt;
His skill foresight of things to come to tell;
His chief delight is studies of device
To keep his subjects out of miseries.

Oh courteous King, oh high and mighty Care,
What shall I write in honour of thy name?
But to the world by due desert declare
Thy royal state and thy immortal fame.
Then so I end as I at first begun,
Care is the King of Kings when all is done.