Classic Poem

Gentle Leisure, whom of yore
To Wealth the fair Contentment bore,
When Peace with them her dwelling made,
And Health her kind attendance paid;
As wandering o'er the sunny plains
They fed their herds and fleecy trains: —
O Thou! who country scenes and air
Prefer'st to courts, and crowds, and care;
With Thee I've often pass'd the day,
To Thee I wake the grateful lay.
With Thee on Chadwell's thymy brow,
Beneath the hazel's bending bough,
I've sat to breathe the fragrance cool
Exhaling from the glassy pool;
Where, through the' unshllied crystal seen,
The bottom show'd its shining green:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, on Mussla's corn-clad height
The landscape oft has charm'd my sight;
Delightful hills, and vales, and woods,
And dusty roads, and winding floods;
And towns, that through thin groups of shade
Their roofs of varied form display'd:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, where Easna's hornbeam-grove
Its foliage o'er me interwove,
Along the lonely path I've stray'd,
By banks in hoary moss array'd;
Where tufts of azure orpine grew,
And branchy fern of brighter hue:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, by Standsted's farms inclos'd,
With aged elms in rows dispos'd;
Or where her chapel's walls appear,
The silver winding river near,
Beneath the broad-leav'd sycamore,
I've linger'd on the shady shore:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, where Thames his waters leads
Round Poplar's Isle of verdant meads,
Along the undulating tide
I've seen the white-sail'd vessels glide;
Or gaz'd on London's lofty towers,
Or Dulwich hills, or Greenwich bowers;
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
O gentle Leisure! — absent long —
I woo thee with this tuneful song:
If e'er, allur'd by grateful change,
O'er scenes yet unbeheld I range,
And Albion's east or western shore
For rural solitudes explore:
As, all-attentive, these I view,
And many a pleasing thought pursue,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow,
To Thee that pleasure I must owe!

Gentle Leisure, whom of yore
To Wealth the fair Contentment bore,
When Peace with them her dwelling made,
And Health her kind attendance paid;
As wandering o'er the sunny plains
They fed their herds and fleecy trains: —
O Thou! who country scenes and air
Prefer'st to courts, and crowds, and care;
With Thee I've often pass'd the day,
To Thee I wake the grateful lay.
With Thee on Chadwell's thymy brow,
Beneath the hazel's bending bough,
I've sat to breathe the fragrance cool
Exhaling from the glassy pool;
Where, through the' unshllied crystal seen,
The bottom show'd its shining green:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, on Mussla's corn-clad height
The landscape oft has charm'd my sight;
Delightful hills, and vales, and woods,
And dusty roads, and winding floods;
And towns, that through thin groups of shade
Their roofs of varied form display'd:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, where Easna's hornbeam-grove
Its foliage o'er me interwove,
Along the lonely path I've stray'd,
By banks in hoary moss array'd;
Where tufts of azure orpine grew,
And branchy fern of brighter hue:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, by Standsted's farms inclos'd,
With aged elms in rows dispos'd;
Or where her chapel's walls appear,
The silver winding river near,
Beneath the broad-leav'd sycamore,
I've linger'd on the shady shore:
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
With Thee, where Thames his waters leads
Round Poplar's Isle of verdant meads,
Along the undulating tide
I've seen the white-sail'd vessels glide;
Or gaz'd on London's lofty towers,
Or Dulwich hills, or Greenwich bowers;
As, all-attentive, these I view'd,
And many a pleasing thought pursued,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow'd,
Still I to Thee that pleasure ow'd!
O gentle Leisure! — absent long —
I woo thee with this tuneful song:
If e'er, allur'd by grateful change,
O'er scenes yet unbeheld I range,
And Albion's east or western shore
For rural solitudes explore:
As, all-attentive, these I view,
And many a pleasing thought pursue,
Whate'er of pleasure they bestow,
To Thee that pleasure I must owe!