William Cowper

Without one friend, above all foes,
Britannia gives the world repose.

Without one friend, above all foes,
Britannia gives the world repose.

Absence of occupation is not rest,
A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd.

Absence of occupation is not rest,
A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd.

Thus happiness depends, as Nature shows,
Less on exterior things than most suppose.

Thus happiness depends, as Nature shows,
Less on exterior things than most suppose.

Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees,
Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze.

Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees,
Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze.

He comes, the herald of a noisy world,
With spatter'd boots, strapp'd waist, and frozen locks;
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He comes, the herald of a noisy world,
With spatter'd boots, strapp'd waist, and frozen locks;
News from all nations lumbering at his back.