A hundred years to live, and live in joy! O what a favour'd fate! The blessed air, In all its purity of leaf and flower; The woodland peace, the contemplative hour; The stillness which no city-broils annoy; Security from envy, malice, care; The gales that fragrance to the spirit bear; The scenes in nature's unstain'd brightness fair; The lulling murmur of the lonely trees; The ambient bracing of the buoyant breeze; The very health on forest-beauty's face; The form robust in woodland pastures bred; -- With what a tranquil and uncumber'd pace Might thus we reach the slumbers of the dead! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MANASSAS [JULY 21, 1861] by CATHERINE ANNE WARFIELD RECOMPENSE by JESSE M. BALL ALLEN NOT TO BE MINISTERED TO by MALTBIE DAVENPORT BABCOCK VERSES WRITTEN ON THE BACK OF AN OLD VISITATION COPY OF ARMS by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD COMING (APRIL, 1861) by HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 34. HOPE AND FEAR by THOMAS CAMPION |