NOT love, nor war, nor the tumultuous swell
Of civil conflicts, nor the wrecks of change,
And duty struggling with afflictions strange,
Not these alone inspire the tuneful shell;
But where untroubled peace and concord dwell,
There also is the muse not loth to range,
Watching the blue smoke of the elmy grange,
Skyward ascending from the twilight dell.
Meek aspirations please her lone endeavour,
And sage content and placid melancholy;
She loves to gaze upon a crystal river,
Diaphanous, because it travels slowly:
Soft is the music that would please for ever,
The flower of sweetest smell is shy and lowly.