OH lone and lovely solitude, <br />Washed by the sounding sea; <br />Nature was in a poet's mood, <br />When she created thee. <br /> <br />How pleasant in the hour of noon <br />To wander through the shade; <br />The soft and golden shade which June <br />Flings o'er thy inland glade: <br /> <br />The wild rose like a wreath above, <br />The ash-tree's fairy keys, <br />The aspen trembling, as if love <br />Were whispered by the breeze; <br /> <br />These, or the beech's darker bough, <br />For canopy o'er head, <br />While moss and fragile flowers below <br />An elfin pillow spread. <br /> <br />Here one might dream the hours away, <br />As if the world had not <br />Or grief, or care, or disarray, <br />To darken human lot. <br /> <br />Yet 'tis not here that I would dwell, <br />Though fair the place may be, <br />The summer's favourite citadel:— <br />A busier scene for me! <br /> <br />I love to see the human face <br />Reflect the human mind, <br />To watch in every crowded place <br />Their opposites combined. <br /> <br />There's more for thought in one brief hour <br />In yonder busy street, <br />Than all that ever leaf or flower <br />Taught in their green retreat. <br /> <br />Industry, intellect, and skill <br />Appear in all their pride, <br />The glorious force of human will <br />Triumphs on every side. <br /> <br />Yet touched with meekness, for on all <br />Is set the sign and seal <br />Of sorrow, suffering, and thrall, <br />Which none but own and feel; <br />The hearse that passes with its dead, <br />The homeless beggar's prayer, <br />Speak words of warning, and of dread, <br />To every passer there. <br /> <br />Aye beautiful the dreaming brought <br />By valleys and green fields; <br />But deeper feeling, higher thought, <br />Is what the city yields.<br /><br />Letitia Elizabeth Landon<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-country-retreat/
