BUT what if One, through grove or flowery mead, Indulging thus at will the creeping feet Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet Thy hovering Shade, O venerable Bede! The saint, the scholar, from a circle freed Of toil stupendous, in a hallowed seat Of learning, where thou heard'st the billows beat On a wild coast, rough monitors to feed Perpetual industry. Sublime Recluse! The recreant soul, that dares to shun the debt Imposed on human kind, must first forget Thy diligence, thy unrelaxing use Of a long life; and, in the hour of death, The last dear service of thy passing breath! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TEMERAIRE by HERMAN MELVILLE SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 48 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI THE FEILIRE OF ADAMNAN by ADAMNAN TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE REV. GILBERT WAKEFIELD by LUCY AIKEN |