The character of a happy life.

There are some very obvious likeness between this poem and champion's 'The Man of life upright'. Both are concerned with the life and virtues of a good man, both are deeply religious in spirit, and both are simple but dignified in expression. However , there is a difference in emphasis. The upright man of champions poem places all his thought and trust in 'heavenly things'. In Sir Henry Wotton's poem the virtuous man is happy not only in the promise of a heavenly reward but also in the enjoyment of a serene life of virtue in this world .

It is not surprising that this theme of the dangers of a public life as opposed to the happiness of a private life runs through so much literature of the period. (We had a taste of it in the song from as you like it.) Mary Queen of Scots and the Earl of Essex were two greats figures who were executed for treason in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In the reign of her successor. King James l Sir Walter Raleigh was executed on trumped-up charges at the instigation of the King; and Sir Francis Bacon. The lord chancellor. Was impeached by parliament and disgraced. The rewards of success were dazzling.but the anxieties and dangers of an ambitious life in the ruler's service were all too real.