Classic Poem

ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND .

O FRIEND! to thee, whose liberal mind
Was form'd with taste for joys refin'd,
For all the extended country yields,
Of azure skies and verdant fields:
For all that Genius' hand displays, —
The Painter's forms, the Poet's lays: —
To thee, restraint to that dull room,
Where sunshine never breaks the gloom;
To thee, restraint to that dull lore
Of books with numbers cipher'd o'er —
How hard the lot! I see with pain,
And wish it oft exchang'd in vain.
Yet not for thee I ask the stores
Which Rapine rends from foreign shores,
Nor those Oppression's power procures
From ills that Poverty endures.
Far happier thou! thy honest gain
Can life with decency sustain;
For thee, Content, with thought serene,
Surveys the present changeful scene;
And Piety her view sublime
Extends beyond the realm of Time.