To Mr Gay, Who Had Congratulated Pope On Finishing His House And Gardens.
'Ah, friend! 'tis true--this truth you lovers know-- In vain my structures rise, my gardens grow, In vain fair Thames reflects the double scenes Of hanging mountains, and of sloping greens: Joy lives not here, to happier seats it flies, And only dwells where Wortley casts her eyes. 'What are the gay parterre, the chequer'd shade, The morning bower, the evening colonnade, But soft recesses of uneasy minds, To sigh unheard in, to the passing winds? So the struck deer in some sequester'd part Lies down to die, the arrow at his heart, He, stretch'd unseen in coverts hid from day, Bleeds drop by drop, and pants his life away.'
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"'Ah, friend! 'tis true--this truth you lovers know--..."
Alexander Pope's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "To Mr Gay, Who Had Congratulated Pope On Finishing His House And Gardens."... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...