Were I a King

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The poem was published by Grosart in Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies' Library, Vol. IV (1872), and in a variant form by J. Thomas Looney in The Poems of Edward de Vere (1921). The "answer" to the verses is ascribed to Sir Philip Sidney.

Were I a king I might command content;
Were I obscure unknown should be my cares,
And were I dead no thoughts should me torment,
Nor words, nor wrongs, nor love, nor hate, nor fears
A doubtful choice of three things one to crave,
A kingdom or a cottage or a grave.
(Vere)

[Sidney's Answer:
Wert thou a King yet not command content,
Since empire none thy mind could yet suffice,
Wert thou obscure still cares would thee torment;
But wert thou dead, all care and sorrow dies;
An easy choice of these things which to crave,
No kingdom nor a cottage but a grave.]

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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