Stranger! awhile upon this mossy bank <br />Recline thee. If the Sun rides high, the breeze, <br />That loves to ripple o'er the rivulet, <br />Will play around thy brow, and the cool sound <br />Of running waters soothe thee. Mark how clear <br />It sparkles o'er the shallows, and behold <br />Where o'er its surface wheels with restless speed <br />Yon glossy insect, on the sand below <br />How the swift shadow flies. The stream is pure <br />In solitude, and many a healthful herb <br />Bends o'er its course and drinks the vital wave: <br />But passing on amid the haunts of man, <br />It finds pollution there, and rolls from thence <br />A tainted tide. Seek'st thou for HAPPINESS? <br />Go Stranger, sojourn in the woodland cot <br />Of INNOCENCE, and thou shalt find her there.<br /><br />Robert Southey<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/inscription-07-for-a-tablet-on-the-banks-of-a-st/
