The Poetry Corner

A Picturesque Cottage And Grounds Belonging To J. Lemon, Esq.

By William Lisle Bowles

Stranger! mark this lovely scene, When the evening sets serene, And starting o'er the silent wood, The last pale sunshine streaks the flood, And the water gushing near Soothes, with ceaseless drip, thine ear; Then bid each passion sink to rest; Should ev'n one wish rise in thy breast, One tender wish, as now in mine, That some such quiet spot were thine, And thou, recalling seasons fled, Couldst wake the slumbers of the dead, And bring back her you loved, to share With thee calm peace and comfort there; Oh, check the thought, but inly pray To HE, "who gives and takes away," That many years this fair domain Its varied beauties may retain; So when some wanderer, who has lost His heart's best treasure, who has crossed In life bleak hills and passes rude, Should gain this lovely solitude; Delighted he may pause a while, And when he marks the landscape smile, Leave with its willows, ere he part, The blessings of a softened heart.