. The deserted village . Vain transitory splendour! could not all Reprieve the tottering mansion from its fall?Obscure it sinks, nor shall it more impartAn hours importance to the poor mans heart;Thither no more the peasant shall repair,To sweet oblivion of his daily care;No more the farmers news, the barbers tale,No more the woodmans ballad shall prevail;No more the smith his dusky brow shall clear,Relax his ponderous strength, and lean to hear; 31. The host himself no longer shall be foundCareful to see the mantling bliss go roundNor the coy maid, half willing to be prest,Shall kiss the cup


. The deserted village . Vain transitory splendour! could not all Reprieve the tottering mansion from its fall?Obscure it sinks, nor shall it more impartAn hours importance to the poor mans heart;Thither no more the peasant shall repair,To sweet oblivion of his daily care;No more the farmers news, the barbers tale,No more the woodmans ballad shall prevail;No more the smith his dusky brow shall clear,Relax his ponderous strength, and lean to hear; 31. The host himself no longer shall be foundCareful to see the mantling bliss go roundNor the coy maid, half willing to be prest,Shall kiss the cup to pass it to the rest. Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdainThese simple blessings of the lowly train,To me more dear, congenial to my heart,One native charm, than all the gloss of art:Spontaneous joys, where nature has its play,The soul adopts, and owns their first-born sway;Lightly they frolic oer the vacant mind,Unenvied, unmolested, the long pomp, the midnight masquerade,With all the freaks of wanton wealth arrayed,In these, ere triflers half their wish obtain,The toiling pleasure sickens into pain:And een while fashions brightest arts decoyThe heart distrusting asks, if this be joy? X Ye friends to truth,[M ye statesmen who survey s The rich mans joys increase, the poors decay!Tis yours to judge, how wide the limits standBetween a splendid and a happy swells the tide with loads of freighted ore,And shouti


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