Solitude

HAPPY the man, whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound,

Content to breathe his native air

     In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,

Whose flocks supply him with attire;

Whose trees in summer yield shade,

     In winter, fire.

Blest, who can unconcern'dly find

Hours, days, and years, slide soft away

In health of body, peace of mind,

     Quiet by day.

Sound sleep by night; study and ease

Together mixed; sweet recreation,

And innocence, which most does please

     With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;

Thus unlamented let me die;

Steal from the world, and not a stone

     Tell where I lie.

Alexander Pope

Sound and Sense

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,

As those move easiest who have learned to dance.

'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense,

The sound must seem an echo to the sense:

Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows,

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,

The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar;

When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,

The line too labors, and the words move slow;

Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain,

Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.

Hear how Timotheus' varied lays surprise,

And bid alternate passions fall and rise!

Alexander Pope

The Dying Christian To His Soul

VITAL spark of heav'nly flame,

Quit, oh, quit, this mortal frame!

Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,

Oh, the pain, the bliss of dying!

Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,

And let me languish into life!

Hark! they whisper; Angels say,

Sister Spirit, come away.

What is this absorbs me quite,

Steals my senses, shuts my sight,

Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?

Tell me, my Soul! can this be Death?

The world recedes; it disappears;

Heav'n opens on my eyes; my ears

With sounds seraphic ring:

Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!

O Grave! where is thy Victory?

O Death! where is thy Sting?

Alexander Pope