William Cowper

What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching read more

What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.

I praise the Frenchman; his remark was shrewd,--
"How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude."
But grant read more

I praise the Frenchman; his remark was shrewd,--
"How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude."
But grant me still a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper--Solitude is sweet.

I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute,
From the centre read more

I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute,
From the centre all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.

That good diffused may more abundant grow.

That good diffused may more abundant grow.

Great contest follows, and much learned dust
Involves the combatants; each claiming truth,
And truth disclaiming both.

Great contest follows, and much learned dust
Involves the combatants; each claiming truth,
And truth disclaiming both.