| |
| HEALTH! I seek thee;—dost thou love | |
| The mountain-top or quiet vale, | |
| Or deign o’er humbler hills to rove | |
| On showery June’s dark southwest gale? | |
| If so, I ’ll meet all blasts that blow, | 5 |
| With silent step, but not forlorn; | |
| Though, goddess, at thy shrine I bow, | |
| And woo thee each returning morn. | |
| |
| I seek thee where, with all his might, | |
| The joyous bird his rapture tells, | 10 |
| Amidst the half-excluded light, | |
| That gilds the foxglove’s pendent bells; | |
| Where cheerly up this bold hill’s side | |
| The deepening groves triumphant climb: | |
| In groves Delight and Peace abide, | 15 |
| And Wisdom marks the lapse of time. | |
| |
| To hide me from the public eye, | |
| To keep the throne of reason clear, | |
| Amidst fresh air to breathe or die, | |
| I took my staff and wandered here. | 20 |
| Suppressing every sigh that heaves, | |
| And coveting no wealth but thee, | |
| I nestle in the honeyed leaves, | |
| And hug my stolen liberty. | |
| |
| O’er eastward uplands, gay or rude, | 25 |
| Along to Erith’s ivied spire, | |
| I start, with strength and hope renewed, | |
| And cherish life’s rekindling fire. | |
| Now measure vales with straining eyes, | |
| Now trace the churchyard’s humble names; | 30 |
| Or climb brown heaths, abrupt that rise, | |
| And overlook the winding Thames. * * * * * | |
| Sweet health, I seek thee! hither bring | |
| Thy balm that softens human ills; | |
| Come, on the long-drawn clouds that fling | 35 |
| Their shadows o’er the Surrey hills. | |
| Yon green-topt hills, and far away | |
| Where late as now I freedom stole, | |
| And spent one dear delicious day | |
| On thy wild banks, romantic Mole. | 40 |
| |
| Ay, there ’s the scene! 1 beyond the sweep | |
| Of London’s congregated cloud, | |
| The dark-browed wood, the headlong steep, | |
| And valley-paths without a crowd! | |
| Here, Thames, I watch thy flowing tides, | 45 |
| Thy thousand sails am proud to see; | |
| For where the Mole all silent glides | |
| Dwells peace,—and peace is wealth to me! * * * * * | |
