On Retirement[46]

(By Hezekiah Salem)

A hermit's house beside a stream, With forests planted round, Whatever it to you may seem More real happiness I deem Than if I were a monarch crown'd.

A cottage I could call my own, Remote from domes of care; A little garden walled with stone, The wall with ivy overgrown, A limpid fountain near,

Would more substantial joys afford, More real bliss impart Than all the wealth that misers hoard, Than vanquish'd worlds, or worlds restored-- Mere cankers of the heart!

Vain, foolish man! how vast thy pride, How little can your wants supply!-- 'Tis surely wrong to grasp so wide-- You act as if you only had To vanquish--not to die!

The title in the edition of 1786 was "Retirement." In 1795 it was changed to "The Wish of Diogenes."