John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
4500 William Cowper 1731-1800 John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 4500 |
| AUTHOR: | William Cowper (1731–1800) |
| QUOTATION: | Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness, 1 Some boundless contiguity of shade, Where rumour of oppression and deceit, Of unsuccessful or successful war, Might never reach me more. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | The Task. Book ii. The Timepiece, Line 1. |
| Note 1. Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men!—Jeremiah ix. 2. Oh that the desert were my dwelling-place!—Lord Byron: Childe Harold, canto iv, stanza 177. [back] |