Classic Poem

On the foregoing Lines , by a L ADY , assuming the Name of LAURA.

H OW happy is the country Parson's lot?
Forgetting Bishops , as by them forgot;
Tranquil of spirit, with an easy mind,
To all his Vestry 's votes he sits resign'd:
Of manners gentle, and of temper even,
He jogs his flocks, with easy pace, to heaven.
In Greek and Latin, pious books he keeps;
And, while his Clerk sings psalms, he — soundly sleeps.
His garden fronts the sun's sweet orient beams,
And fat church-wardens prompt his golden dreams.
The earliest fruit, in his fair orchard, blooms;
And cleanly pipes pour out tobacco's fumes.
From rustic bridegroom oft he takes the ring;
And hears the milk-maid plaintive ballads sing.
Back-gammon cheats whole winter nights away,
And Pilgrim's Progress helps a rainy day.