Small change of scene, small space his home requires, Who leads a life of satisfied desires. What tho' no marble breathes, no canvas glows, Soon as the morning-dream my pillow flies, Selected shelves shall claim thy studious hours; There shall thy ranging mind be fed on flowers!* There, while the shaded lamp's mild lustre streams, Read ancient books, or dream inspiring dreams ; And, when a sage's bust arrests thee there, Pause, and his features with his thoughts compare. -Ah, most that Art my grateful rapture calls, Which breathes a soul into the silent walls; † Which gathers round the Wise of every Tongue, All on whose words departed nations hung; Still prompt to charm with many a converse sweet; Guides in the world, companions in retreat! Tho' my thatched bath no rich Mosaic knows, A limpid spring with unfelt current flows. Emblem of Life! which, still as we survey, Seems motionless, yet ever glides away! The shadowy walls record, with Attic art, The strength and beauty which its waves impart. Here THETIS, bending, with a mother's fears Dips her dear boy, whose pride restrains his tears. There VENUS, rising, shrinks with sweet surprise, As her fair self reflected seems to rise! Far from the joyless glare, the maddening strife, And all the dull impertinence of life, + Postea verò quam Tyrannio mihi libros disposuit, mens addita videtur meis ædibus. CIC. These eyelids open to the rising ray, * Ingenium, sibi quod vacuas desumsit Athenas, Et studiis annos septem dedit, insenuitque Libris et curis, statuâ taciturnius exit Plerumque .-HOR. No tuneful echoes, ambushed at my gate, When Christmas revels in a world of snow, And bids her berries blush, her carols flow, His spangling shower when Frost the wizard flings; Or, borne in ether blue, on viewless wings, O'er the white pane his silvery foliage weaves, And gems with icicles the sheltering eaves; -Thy muffled friend his nectarine-wall pursues, What time the sun the yellow crocus woos, Screened from the arrowy North; and duly hies * To meet the morning-rumour as it flies; To range the murmuring market-place, and view The motley groups that faithful TENIERS drew. * Fallacem circum, vespertinumque pererro Sæpe forum.-HOR. When Spring bursts forth in blossoms thro' the vale, And her wild music triumphs on the gale, Oft with my book I muse from stile to stile; * Oft in my porch the listless noon beguile, Framing loose numbers, till declining day Thro' the green trellis shoots a crimson ray; Till the West-wind leads on the twilight hours, And shakes the fragrant bells of closing flowers. Nor boast, O Choisy, seat of soft delight, The secret charm of thy voluptuous night. Vain is the blaze of wealth, the pomp of power! Lo, here, attendant on the shadowy hour, Thy closet-supper, served by hands unseen, Sheds, like an evening-star, its ray serene, To hail our coming. Not a step profane Dares, with rude sound, the cheerful rite restrain; And, while the frugal banquet glows revealed, Pure and unbought †-the natives of my field; While blushing fruits thro' scattered leaves invite, Still clad in bloom, and veiled in azure light;With wine, as rich in years as HORACE sings, With water, clear as his own fountain flings, The shifting side-board plays its humbler part, Beyond the triumphs of a Loriot's art. Thus, in this calm recess, so richly fraught With mental light, and luxury of thought, * Tantôt, un livre en main, errant dans les préries -BOILEAU. † Dapes inemtas .-Нок. |