Poem by Anna Seward

Sonnet 5. Ah, thankless! canst thou envy him who gains

TO A FRIEND,
WHO THINKS SENSIBILITY A MISFORTUNE.

Ah, thankless! canst thou envy him who gains
    The Stoic's cold and indurate repose?
    Thou! with thy lively sense of bliss and woes!—
    From a false balance of life's joys and pains
Thou deem'st him happy.—Plac'd 'mid fair domains,
    Where full the river down the valley flows,
    As wisely might'st thou wish thy home had rose
    On the parch'd surface of unwater'd plains,
For that, when long the heavy rain descends,
    Bursts over guardian banks their whelming tide!—
    Seldom the wild and wasteful Flood extends,
But, spreading plenty, verdure, beauty wide,
    The cool translucent Stream perpetual bends,
    And laughs the Vale as the bright waters glide.

1. Sonnet 45. From Possibility's dim chaos sprung
2. Sonnet 48. Now young-ey'd Spring, on gentle breezes borne
3. Sonnet 13. Thou child of Night, and Silence, balmy Sleep
4. Sonnet 53. The knell of Whitehead tolls!—his cares are past
5. Sonnet 15. The evening shines in May's luxuriant pride

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