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 41. Since dark December shrouds the transient day
2. Sonnet 32. Behold him now his genuine colours wear
3. Sonnet 89. Yon late but gleaming Moon, in hoary light
4. Sonnet 85. March, tho' the Hours of promise with bright ray
5. Sonnet 36. Now on hills, rocks, and streams, and vales, and plains

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