Some reckon wealth by sovereigns bright,
By heavy purse and vault locked tight;
Yet gold that sleeps from year to year
Is wealthy only in appearance, I fear.

For coin was never meant to stay
Forgotten, hidden, stored away.
Let timber rise beneath its call,
Let hammer ring in workshop hall.

Let merchants stock the market square,
Let ships bear cargo everywhere.
A sovereign wisely set to roam
May cross the seas and wander home,

And when at last it comes once more,
It may bring several through the door.
Thus coin employed with wit and care
Grows richer far than coin kept there.

Yet how the gold was won has weight;
A fortune cannot make one great
If every telling of its gain
Must hide behind a lowered refrain.

A fair exchange, a bargain sound,
Builds firmer wealth on honest ground.
Give worthy craft a worthy price,
And neither party pays it twice.

For trust itself has value too,
Though no assessor counts it true.
A merchant's name, if kept with pride,
May weather loss when coffers slide.

And wealth is more than minted gold,
More varied than a vault can hold.
The smith possesses practiced hands;
The sailor, knowledge of strange lands.

The scholar's fortune fills a page,
The soldier's rests in tempered courage.
The farmer's wealth grows green in rows,
And some find riches where none knows.

A quiet hearth, a faithful friend,
A worthy cause pursued to end;
A life well spent, a craft well known
Not every fortune can be shown.

So let no merchant judge another
By whether his purse outweighs his brother.
Not every road leads into trade,
Nor should each life be likewise made.

One seeks the forest, one the sea,
One serves a city faithfully.
Another takes up forge or blade;
Each measures what his labour made.

And when good fortune fills your store,
There still remains a purpose more.
For wealth can purchase more than things
Used wisely, it may furnish wings.

A handful tossed will soon be spent;
A better gift is opportunity lent.
Give tools to hands prepared to learn,
Give honest work and wages earned.

Teach what experience taught to you,
Then give another room to do.
Help stock the shelves of one beginning,
And share the means by which comes winning.

For should that fledgling merchant thrive,
Your wealth has helped new wealth arrive.
No sovereign need return your way
For profit to have bloomed that day.

Do not mistake me: gold is fine.
I gladly count what fortune's mine.
A laden ledger brings delight,
And profitable trade feels right.

There is no shame in seeking more,
In filling warehouse, purse, and store.
Abundance earned deserves its place
So long as coin still serves its case.

For gold is tool, and gold is seed;
Its worth is measured by the deed.
A ship, a shop, a craftsman's art,
A chance for someone else to start.

A sovereign motionless and cold
Is nothing more than minted gold.
But put that sovereign into play

And see what wealth it makes one day.


Penned by my hand on the 22nd of Valnuary, in the year 1014 AF.