"No! No! 'Tis in vain, in this turbulent Town, To expect either pleasure or rest! To hurry and nonsense still tying us down, 'Tis an overgrown prison at best! From hence, to the country escaping away, Leave the crowd and the bustle behind! And there you'll see liberal Nature display A thousand delights to Mankind! The change of the seasons, the sports of the fields, The sweetly diversified scene, The groves, and the gardens;—nay! everything yields A happiness ever serene! Here, here, from ambition and avarice free, My days may I quietly spend! Whilst the cits and the courtiers, unenvied by me, May gather up wealth without end! No! I thank them! I'll never, to add to my store, My peace and my freedom resign! For who, for the sake of possessing the ore, Would be sentenced to dig in the mine?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JACOBITE'S TOAST (TO AN OFFICER IN THE ARMY) by JOHN BYROM COMFORT [TO A YOUTH THAT HAD LOST HIS LOVE] by ROBERT HERRICK THE COMING OF GOOD LUCK by ROBERT HERRICK AUF WIEDERSEHEN! SUMMER by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL FARM-YARD SONG by JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE |