Contemplative Man's Recreation; Extensively Embellished with Engravings on Copper and Wood, from Original Paintings and Drawings, by First Rate Artists. to Which Are Added, an Introductory Essay the Linnaean Arrangement of the Various River Fish Delineated (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The rapid Garonne, aiid the winding Seine, Are both too mean, Beloved Dove, with thee To vie priority; Nay, Thame and Isis when conjoin'd, submit. And lay their trophies at thy silver feet. Oh my beloved rocks! that rise To awe the earth and brave the skies: From some aspiring mountain's crown, How dearly do I love, Giddy with pleasure, to look down, And from the vales, to view the noble heights above! Oh, my beloved caves! from Dog-star's heat, And all anxieties, my safe retreat; What safety, privacy, what true delight, In th' artificial night, Your gloomy entrails make, Have I taken, do I take! How oft when grief has made me fly To hide me from society, Ev'n of my dearest friends, have I In your recesses friendly shade, All my sorrows open laid, And;, ray most secret woes, entrusted to your privacy! Lord I would men let me alone; What an over-happy one Should I think myself to be. Might I, in this desert place, Which most men in discourse disgrace, lave but undisturb'd and free! C Here, in this despis'd recess, Would I, maugre Winter's cold, And the Summer's worst excess, Try to live out to sixty full years old! And, all the while, Without an envious eye On any thriving under Fortune's smile, Contented live, and then?contented die. C. C. But, notwithstanding the purity of sentiment contained in these verses, we are compelled to add that the virtuous aspirations of the poet were rendered vain, by a general want of economy in his affairs: thus forming a striking contrast to those of the practical moralist, whom, we cannot help wishing, he had been able to imitate in a degree more consistent with his truly creditable admiration. Nevertheless, their connexion was highly honourable to them both; it is beautifu...