Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 1.djvu/107

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As rough and bleak it rolls along the sky,Benumbs his naked limbs, he flies to seekThe dripping shelter. Welcome ye wild plainsUnbroken by the plough, undelv'd by handOf patient rustic; where for lowing herds,And for the music of the bleating flocks,Alone is heard the kangaroo's sad noteDeepening in distance. Welcome ye rude climes,The realm of Nature! for as yet unknownThe crimes and comforts of luxurious life,Nature benignly gives to all enough,Denies to all a superfluity.What tho' the garb of infamy I wear,Tho' day by day along the echoing beachI cull the wave-worn shells, yet day by dayI earn in honesty my frugal food,And lay me down at night to calm repose,No more condemn'd the mercenary toolOf brutal lust, while heaves the indignant heartWith Virtue's stifled sigh, to fold my arms
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