Farewell Stanzas On Leaving Cookham, In The Spring Of The Year, 1781, When Mr. B. Was Not Quite Eighteen Years Old, Two Years After He Left Eton-School.
18th Century George Monck Berkeley EnglishFAREWELL STANZAS ON LEAVING COOKHAM, IN THE SPRING OF THE YEAR, 1781,
WHEN MR. B. WAS NOT QUITE EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD, TWO YEARS AFTER HE LEFT ETON-SCHOOL.
TO MRS. MALTHUS.
YE nymphs and swains, so innocently gay, Who dwell where Thames rolls on his silver way; Where'er in Cookham's lov'd retreats you stray, To you a wand'rer gives his parting lay; Nor will he e'er forget those blissful days, Where on your banks he tun'd his artless lays; To you his Muse this parting tribute pays, And sings, but sings unbrib'd, your modest praise. But now a long farewell, ye nymphs, ye swains; With you no more I tread the verdant plains, No more with you I share my joys, my pains, Nor shall you hear again my plaintive strains: But ere, lov'd Thames, thy flow'ry banks I leave, Where oft I've hail'd th' approach of sober eve, Do thou, whilst Fate permits a short reprieve, Do thou, dear Thames, this parting wish receive; "O! ever gently flow, thou hallow'd stream! O! may thy waves be still the Muse's theme! When on thy banks pale Cynthia sheds her beam, " O! there may Fancy gild the Poet's dream!