Foliage: Various Poems

THE TWO LIVES

     Now how could I, with gold to spare,
       Who know the harlot's arms, and wine,
     Sit in this green field all alone,
       If Nature was not truly mine?

     That Pleasure life wakes stale at morn,
       From heavy sleep that no rest brings:
     This life of quiet joy wakes fresh,
       And claps its wings at morn, and sings.

     So here sit I, alone till noon,
       In one long dream of quiet bliss;
     I hear the lark and share his joy,
       With no more winedrops than were his.

     Such, Nature, is thy charm and power—
       Since I have made the Muse my wife—

       And save me from a drunkard's life.