Tranquillity! thou better name <br />Than all the family of Fame! <br />Thou ne'er wilt leave my riper age <br />To low intrigue, or factious rage; <br />For oh! dear child of thoughtful Truth, <br />To thee I gave my early youth, <br />And left the bark, and blest the steadfast shore, <br />Ere yet the tempest rose and scared me with its roar. <br /> <br />Who late and lingering seeks thy shrine, <br />On him but seldom, Power divine, <br />Thy spirit rests! Satiety <br />And Sloth, poor counterfeits of thee, <br />Mock the tired worldling. Idle hope <br />And dire remembrance interlope, <br />To vex the feverish slumbers of the mind: <br />The bubble floats before, the spectre stalks behind. <br /> <br />But me thy gentle hand will lead <br />At morning through the accustomed mead; <br />And in the sultry summer's heat <br />Will build me up a mossy seat; <br />And when the gust of Autumn crowds, <br />And breaks the busy moonlight clouds, <br />Thou best the thought canst raise, the heart attune, <br />Light as the busy clouds, calm as the gliding moon. <br /> <br />The feeling heart, the searching soul, <br />To thee I dedicate the whole! <br />And while within myself I trace <br />The greatness of some future race, <br />Aloof with hermit-eye I scan <br />The present works of present man-- <br />A wild and dream-like trade of blood and guile, <br />Too foolish for a tear, too wicked for a smile!<br /><br />Samuel Taylor Coleridge<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ode-to-tranquillity/
