They called Thee MERRY ENGLAND, in old time; A happy people won for thee that name With envy heard in many a distant clime; And, spite of change, for me thou keep'st the same Endearing title, a responsive chime To the heart's fond belief; though some there are Whose sterner judgements deem that word a snare For inattentive Fancy, like the lime Which foolish birds are caught with. Can, I ask, This face of rural beauty be a mask For discontent, and poverty, and crime; These spreading towns a cloak for lawless will? Forbid it, Heaven!''"and MERRY ENGLAND still Shall be thy rightful name, in prose and rhyme! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DAISY by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS WAR IS KIND: 12 by STEPHEN CRANE THE WHITE KNIGHT'S SONG by CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON ON A FLOWER FROM THE FIELD OF GRUTLI by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS A MORNING THOUGHT by EDWARD ROWLAND SILL |