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With slow mutation unconcealable;
Such universal change as autumn makes
In the fair body of a leafy grove
Discoloured, then divested. 'Tis affirmed
By Poets skilled in nature's secret ways
That Love will not submit to be controlled
By mastery:—and the good Man lacked not Friends
Who strove to instil this truth into his mind,
A mind in all heart-mysteries unversed.
"Go to the hills," said one, "remit awhile
"This baneful diligence:—at early morn
"Court the fresh air, explore the heaths and woods;
"And, leaving it to others to foretell,
"By calculations sage, the ebb and flow
"Of tides, and when the moon will be eclipsed,
"Do you, for your own benefit, construct
"A calendar of flowers, plucked as they blow
"Where health abides, and chearfulness, and peace."
The attempt was made;—'tis needless to report
How hopelessly:—but Innocence is strong,
And an entire simplicity of mind
A thing most sacred in the eye of Heaven,
