Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A FRIEND SETTLED IN THE COUNTRY by ROBERT SOUTHEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: RICHARD, THE LOT WHICH FATE TO THEE HAS GIVEN
Last Line: SWEET SOLACE TO THE WEARIED SOUL CAN YIELD.
Subject(s): CITIES; COMFORT; COUNTRY LIFE; FATE; SOLDIERS; URBAN LIFE; DESTINY;
RICHARD, the lot which fate to thee has given,
Almost excites my envy. This green field
Sweet solace to the wearied mind must yield;
And yonder wide circumference of heaven,
At morn or when the day-star rides on high,
Or when the calm and mellowed light of even
Softens the glory of the western sky,
Spreads only varied beauties to thine eye.
And when these scenes, these lovely scenes so fair,
Hill, vale, and wood, are hidden from thy sight,
Still through the deepness of the quiet air,
Canst thou behold the radiant host of night,
And send thy spirit through the infinite,
Till lofty contemplation end in prayer.
Richard, the lot which fate to thee has given,
I not unenvying shall recall to mind,
In that foul town, by other fate confined,
Where never running brook, nor verdant field,
Nor yonder wide circumference of heaven,
Sweet solace to the wearied soul can yield.



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