134 ftbe (Barren 



stately garden or palace lie in a narrow com- 

 pass, the imagination immediately runs them 

 over, and requires something else to gratify her ; 

 but, in the wide fields of nature, the sight 

 wanders up and down without confinement, 

 and is fed with an infinite variety of images, 

 without any certain stint or number. For this 

 reason we always find the poet in love with a 

 country life, where nature appears in the great- 

 est perfection, and furnishes out all those scenes 

 that are most apt to delight the imagination. 



Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus etfugit urbes. 



HOR. 



To grottos and to groves we run, 



To ease and silence, ev'ry muse's son. 



POPE. 



Hie secura quies, et nescia f alter e vita, 

 Dives opum variarum ; hie latis otiafundis, 

 Spelunca, vivique lacus, hie frigida Tempe, 

 Mugitusque bourn, mollesque sub arbore somni. 



VlRG. 



Here easy quiet, a secure retreat, 

 A harmless life, that knows not how to cheat, 

 With home-bred plenty the rich owner bless, 

 And rural pleasures crown his happiness, 

 Unvex'd with quarrels, undisturb'd with noise, 

 The country king his peaceful realm enjoys : 

 Cool grots, and living lakes, the flow'ry pride 

 Of meads, and streams that through the valley glide ; 

 And shady groves that easy sleep invite, 

 And, after toilsome days, a sweet repose at night. 



DRYDEN. 



