O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,
Let it not be among the jumbled heap
Of murky building; climb with me the steep,-
Nature's observatory- whence the dell
It's flowery slopes, its river crystal swell,
May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
'Mongst boughs pavillion'd, where the deer's swift leap
Startles the wild bee from the fox-glove bell.
But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,
Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
Whose words are images of thoughts refin'd,
Is my soul's please; and it sure must be
Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.