1215

1220

How fwell'd immenfe! amid whofe azure thron'd,
The radiant fun how gay! how calm below
The gilded earth! the harvest-treasures all
Now gather'd in, beyond the rage of storms,
Sure to the fwain; the circling fence fhut up,
And inftant Winter's utmost rage defy'd:
While, loose to feftive joy, the country round
Laughs with the loud fincerity of Mirth,
Shook to the wind their cares. The toil-ftrung youth,
By the quick sense of mufic taught alone,
Leaps wildly graceful in the lively dance.
Her every charm abroad, the village-toast,
Young, buxom, warm, in native beauty rich, 1225
Darts not unmeaning looks, and, where her eye
Points an approving fmile, with double force
The cudgel rattles, and the wrestler twines.
Age, too, fhines out, and, garrulous, recounts
The feats of youth. Thus they rejoice, nor think
That, with to-morrow's fun, their annual toil 1231
Begins again the never-ceafing round.

1235

Oh knew he but his happiness, of men The happieft he! who, far from public rage, Deep in the vale, with a choice few retir'd, Drinks the pure pleasures of the rural life. What tho' the dome be wanting, whofe proud gate, Each morning, vomits out the fneaking crowd Of flatterers falfe, and in their turn abus'd? Vile intercourfe! What tho' the glittering robe, 1240

Of

every

hue reflected light can give,
Or floating loofe, or ftiff with mazy' gold,
The pride and gaze of fools! opprefs him not?
What tho', from utmost land and fea purvey'd,
For him cach rarer tributary life

J

1245

1250

Bleeds not, and his infatiate table heaps
With luxury and death? what tho' his bowl
Flames not with coftly juice; nor funk in beds,
Oft of gay care, he toffes out the night,
Or melts the thoughtless hours in idle flate?
What tho' he knows not thofe fantaftic joys
That fill amufe the wanton, ftill deceive,
A face of pleasure, but a heart of pain,
Their hollow moments undelighted all?
Sure peace is his; a folid life, eftrang'd
To difappointment and fallacious hope:
Rich in content, in Nature's bounty rich,
In herbs and fruits, whatever greens the Spring,
When heaven defcendsin fhowers, or bends the bough
When Summer reddens, and when Autumn beams,
Or in the Wintry glebe whatever lies

1255

1261

Conceal'd, and fattens with the richest fap,
Thefe are not wanting; nor the milky drove,
Luxuriant, fpread o'er all the lowing vale;
Nor bleating mountains; nor the chide of ftreams,"
And humn of bees, inviting fleep fincere '
Into the guiltless breast, beneath the shade,
Or thrown at large amid the fragrant hay;"

1266

Nor aught befides of profpect, grove, or fong,
Dim grottoes, gleaming lakes,and fountain clear. 1270
Here, too, dwells fimple Truth, plain Innocence,
Unfullied Beauty, found unbroken Youth,
Patient of labour, with a little pleas'd,
Health ever blooming, unambitious Toil,
Calm Contemplation, and poetic Eafe.
Let others brave the flood in queft of gain,
And beat, for joyless months, the gloomy wave.
Let fuch as deem it glory to deftroy

Rufh into blood, the fack of cities feek,

Unpierc'd, exulting in the widow's wail,

1275

1280

1285

The virgin's shriek, and infant's trembling cry.
Let fome, far diftant from their native foil,
Urg'd on by want or hardened avarice,
Find other lands beneath another fun.
Let this thro' cities work his eager way,
By legal outrage and establish'd guile,
The focial fenfe extinct, and that ferment
Mad into tumult the feditious herd,
Or melt them down to flavery; let these
Infnare the wretched in the toils of law,
Fomenting difcord, and perplexing right,
An iron race! and thofe of fairer front,
But equal inhumanity, in courts,

1290

Delufive pomp, and dark cabals, delight,
Wreath the deep bow, diffuse the lying fmile, 1295
And tread the weary labyrinth of state:

While he, from all the ftormy paffions free
That restless men involve, hears, and but hears,
At distance safe, the human tempeft roar,

Wrapt clofe in confcious peace. The fall of kings,
The rage of nations, and the crush of states, 1301
Move not the man who, from the world efcap'd,
In ftill retreats and flowery folitudes,

1305

To Nature's voice attends, from month to month, And day to day, thro' the revolving year; Admiring fees her in her every shape, Feels all her fweet emotions at his heart, Takes what the liberal gives, nor thinks of more. He, when young Spring protrudes the bursting gems, Marks the first bud, and fucks the healthful gale 1310 Into his freshened foul; her genial hours He full enjoys, and not a beauty blows, And not an opening bloffom breathes in vain. In Summer he, beneath the living fhade, Such as o'er frigid Tempe wont to wave, Or Hemus cool, reads what the Muse of these, Perhaps, has in immortal numbers fung, Or what she dictates writes; and oft', an eye Shot round, rejoices in the vigorous year. When Autumn's yellow luftre gilds the world, 1320 And tempts the fickled fwain into the field, Seiz'd by the general joy, his heart diftends With gentle throes, and thro' the tepid gleams Deep mufing, then he beft exerts his fong.

1315

Even Winter wild to him is full of blifs:
The mighty tempeft and the hoary waste,

1325

Abrupt and deep,, ftretch'd o'er the buried earth, Awake to folemn thought. At night the skies, Difclos'd and kindled by refining froft,

*ཀ །

Pour every luftre on th' exalted eye.

A friend, a book, the ftealing hours fecure,

13.30

And mark them down for wifdom. With fwift wing

O'er land and fea Imagination roams;

こだ

Or truth, divinely breaking on his mind,

Elates his being, and unfolds his powers;

Or in his breaft heroic virtue burns.

༣ ༢༢ ་ ༧༦

The touch of kindred, too, and love he feels;
The modeft eye, whose beams on his alone
Ecftatic Thine; the little ftrong embrace

1335

Of prattling children, twin'd around his neck, 134 And emulous to pleafe him, calling forth

Y

The fond parental foul. Nor purpofe gay,

ན ག ་

Amufement, dance, or fong, he fternly scorns;
For happiness and true philosophy

Are of the focial ftill and fmiling kind.

This is the life which those who fret in guilt

And guilty cities never knew; the life

Led by primeval ages, uncorrupt,

1345

1350

When angels dwelt, and God himself, with Man!
Oh, Nature! all-fufficient! over all!
Enrich me with the knowledge of thy works!
Snatch me to heaven; thy rolling wonders there,