TO
Thomas
Gunston
Esq
1700.
Happy
Solitude
.
Casimire
Book
4.
Ode
12.
Imitated
.
Quid
me
latentem
,
&c.
I.
THE
noisy
World
complains
of
me
That
I
should
shun
their
Sight
,
and
flee
Visits
,
and
Crowds
and
Company
.
GUNSTON
,
the
Lark
dwells
in
her
Nest
Until
she
mount
the
Skies
;
And
in
my
Closet
I
could
rest
Till
to
the
Heavens
I
rise
.
II
.
Yet
they
will
urge
,
"
This
private
Life
"
Can
never
make
you
Blest
,
"
And
twenty
Doors
are
still
at
Strife
"
T'
engage
you
for
a
Guest
?
Friend
,
should
you
see
the
Louvre
,
or
Whitehall
Open
their
Royal
Gates
,
and
call
,
And
wait
for
WATTS
to
come
,
He
has
no
Business
there
at
all
Who
finds
so
much
at
Home
.
III
.
When
I
within
my
self
retreat
,
I
shut
my
Doors
against
the
Great
;
My
busy
Eyeballs
inward
roll
,
And
there
with
large
survey
I
see
All
the
wide
Theatre
of
Me
,
And
view
the
various
Scenes
of
my
retiring
Soul
;
There
I
walk
o're
the
Mazes
I
have
trod
,
While
Hope
and
Fear
are
in
a
doubtful
Strife
Whether
this
Opera
of
Life
Be
acted
well
to
gain
the
Plaudit
of
my
God
.
IV
.
There's
a
Day
hastning
,
(
'tis
an
Awful
Day
)
When
the
great
Sovereign
shall
at
large
review
All
that
we
speak
and
all
we
do
,
The
several
Parts
we
act
on
this
wide
Stage
of
Clay
:
These
he
approves
,
and
those
he
blames
,
And
Crowns
perhaps
a
Porter
,
and
a
Prince
he
Damns
O
if
the
Judge
from
his
tremendous
Seat
Shall
not
condemn
what
I
have
done
,
I
shall
be
Happy
tho'
unknown
,
Nor
need
the
gazing
Rabble
,
nor
the
shouting
Street
.
V.
I
hate
the
Glory
,
Friend
,
that
springs
From
Vulgar
Breath
and
empty
Sound
;
Fame
mounts
her
upward
with
a
Flatt'ring
Gale
Upon
her
Airy
Wings
Till
Envy
Shoots
,
and
Fame
receives
the
Wound
;
Then
her
flagging
Pinions
fail
,
Down
Glory
falls
and
strikes
the
Ground
And
breaks
her
batter'd
Limbs
.
Rather
let
me
be
quite
conceal'd
from
Fame
;
How
happy
I
should
lye
In
Sweet
Obscurity
,
Nor
the
Loud
World
pronounce
my
little
Name
!
Here
I
could
live
and
dye
alone
;
Or
if
Society
be
due
To
keep
our
Tast
of
Pleasure
new
,
GVNSTON
,
I'de
live
and
die
with
you
,
For
both
our
Souls
are
one
.
VI
.
Here
we
could
sit
and
pass
the
pleasing
Hour
,
And
Pity
Kingdoms
and
their
Kings
,
And
smile
at
all
their
shining
Things
,
Their
Toys
of
State
,
and
Images
of
Power
;
Vertue
should
dwell
within
our
Seat
,
Vertue
alone
could
make
it
sweet
,
Nor
is
her
self
secure
but
in
a
close
Retreat
.
While
she
withdraws
from
publick
Praise
Envy
perhaps
would
cease
to
rail
,
Envy
it
self
may
innocently
gaze
At
Beauty
in
a
Vail
.
But
if
she
once
advance
to
Light
,
Her
Charms
are
lost
in
Envy's
Sight
,
And
Vertue
is
the
Mark
of
Universal
Spight
.