I strove with none, for none were worth my strife,
Nature I loved, and next to Nature, Art,
I warmed both hands before the fire of life;
It sinks, and I am ready to depart.
WHEN Love with unconfined wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair
And fetter'd to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.
When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses crown'd
Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go tree
Fishes that tipple in the deep
Know no such liberty.
When, linnet-like confined, I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty
And glories of my King;
