Ah, thankless! canst thou envy him who gains The Stoic's cold and indurate repose? Thou! with thy lively sense of bliss and woes! -- From a false balance of life's joys and pains Thou deem'st him happy. -- Placed 'mid fair domains, Where full the river down the valley flows, As wisely might'st thou with thy home had rose On the parched surface of unwatered plains, For that, when long the heavy rain descends, Bursts over guardian banks their whelming tide! -- Seldom the wild and wasteful flood extends, But, spreading plenty, verdure, beauty wide, The cool translucent stream perpetual bends, And laughs the vale as the bright waters glide. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS [MAY 9, 1775] by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE PRAIRIES by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THIRD BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 17. A LOVER'S PLEA by THOMAS CAMPION HUMAN LIFE: ON THE DENIAL OF IMMORTALITY by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE UNDER THE OAK by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE |