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| TRANQUILLITY! thou better name | |
| Than all the family of Fame! | |
| Thou ne’er will leave my riper age | |
| To low intrigue, or factious rage; | |
| For oh! dear child of thoughtful Truth, | 5 |
| To thee I gave my early youth, | |
| And left the bark, and blest the steadfast shore, | |
| Ere yet the tempest rose and scared me with its roar. | |
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| Who late and lingering seeks thy shrine, | |
| On him but seldom, Power divine, | 10 |
| Thy spirit rests. Satiety | |
| And Sloth, poor counterfeits of thee, | |
| Mock the tired worldling. Idle Hope | |
| And dire Remembrance interlope, | |
| To vex the feverish slumbers of the mind: | 15 |
| The bubble floats before, the spectre stalks behind. | |
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| But me thy gentle hand will lead | |
| At morning through the accustomed mead: | |
| And in the sultry summer’s heat | |
| Will build me up a mossy seat; | 20 |
| And when the gust of Autumn crowds, | |
| And breaks the busy moonlight clouds, | |
| Thou best the thought canst raise, the heart attune, | |
| Light as the busy clouds, calm as the gliding moon. | |
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| The feeling heart, the searching soul, | 25 |
| To thee I dedicate the whole! | |
| And while within myself I trace | |
| The greatness of some future race, | |
| Aloof with hermit-eye I scan | |
| The present works of present man— | 30 |
| A wild and dream-like trade of blood and guile, | |
| Too foolish for a tear, too wicked for a smile! | |
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