| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | Wishes for Vin | | By Richard Corbet (1582–1635) |
| | | WHAT I shall leave thee none can tell, | |
| But all shall say I wish thee well, | |
| I wish thee, Vin, before all wealth, | |
| Both bodily and ghostly health; | |
| Nor too much wealth, nor wit, come to thee, | 5 |
| So much of either may undo thee. | |
| I wish thee learning, not for show, | |
| Enough for to instruct and know; | |
| Not such as gentlemen require | |
| To prate at table, or at fire. | 10 |
| I wish thee all thy mother’s graces, | |
| Thy father’s fortunes and his places. | |
| I wish thee friends, and one at court, | |
| Not to build on, but support | |
| To keep thee, not in doing many | 15 |
| Oppressions, but from suffering any. | |
| I wish thee peace in all thy ways, | |
| Nor lazy nor contentious days; | |
| And when thy soul and body part | |
| As innocent as now thou art. | 20 | | | |
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