The Traveller, or a Prospect of Society; And the Deserted Village Paperback - 2010

From the publisher

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: GOLDSMITH. THE TRAVELLER; OR, A PROSPECT OF SOCIETY. Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow, Or by the lazy Scheld or wandering Po; Or onward, where the rude Carinthian boor Against the houseless stranger shuts the door; Or where Campania's plain forsaken lyes, A weary waste expanding to the skies; Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, My heart untravell'd fondly turns to thee; Still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain, And drags at each remove a lengthening chain. Eternal blessings crown my earliest friend, And round his dwelling guardian saints attend: Blest be that spot where cheerful guests retire To pause from toll, and trim their ev'ning fire: Blest that abode where want and pain repair, And every stranger finds a ready chair: Blest be those feasts, with simple plenty crown'd, Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail, Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale; Or press the bashful stranger to his food, And leam the luxury of doing good. But me, not destin'd such delights to share, My prime of life in wand'ring spent and care; Impell'd, with steps unceasing, to pursue Some fleeting good that mocks me with the vie-, v;That, like the circle bounding earth and skies, Allures from far, yet, as I follow, flies; My fortune leads to traverse realms alone, And find no spot of all the world my own., 3 Even now, where Alpine solitudes ascend, I sit me down a pensive hour to spend; And plac'd ou high above the storm's career, Look downward where an hundred realms appear; Lakes, forests, cities, plains extending wide, 35 The pomp of kings, the shepherd's humbler pride. When thus Creation's charms around combine, Amidst the store should thankless pride repine? Say, should the philosophic mind disdain That go...