Ye venerable groves! whose open glades Invite the musing wanderer to your shades, Ye birds! whose honied notes enthral the ear, Wake the bright morn, the darksome evening cheer, Ye fountains! murmuring music as ye flow, Ye flowers! that on their purple margins glow, Ye winds! that o’er those flowers soft breathing play, Calm the hot sky, and mitigate the day;-- Take me, O take me to your loved retreats; All, all conspire to bless me with your sweets. Here in your soft enclosure let me prove The shade and silence of the life I love! Not idle here;--for, as I rove along, I form the verse, and meditate the song; Or mend my mind by what the wise have taught, Studious to be the very thing I ought Here will I taste the blessings of _content_, No hope shall flatter, and no fear torment: Unlike the sea, the sport of every wind, And rich with wrecks, the ruin of mankind, My life an honest, humble praise shall claim, As the small stream, scarce honoured with a name, Whose gladdening waters through my garden play, Give a few flowers to smile, then glide away. _Bishop Hurd._ The wisest, happiest, of our kind are they That ever walk _content_ with Nature’s way, God’s goodness measuring bounty as it may; For whom the gravest thought of what they miss, Chastening the fulness of a present bliss, Is with that wholesome office satisfied; While unrepining sadness is allied In thankful bosoms to a modest pride. _Wordsworth._ Grant, gracious Lord, as through this troubled scene I walk unsafely, stumbling as I go, Glimpses of hope, the murky clouds between, May break at times, and light the way below; But if I may not such sweet solace find, Give me a prayerful and _contented_ mind. _Egone._ CONTRITION. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a _contrite_ spirit.--Psalm xxxiv. 18. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a _contrite_ heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.--Psalm li. 17. Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a _contrite_ and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the _contrite_ ones.--Isaiah, lvii. 15. To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a _contrite_ spirit, and trembleth at my word.--Isaiah, lxvi. 2. Fruits of more pleasing savour from thy seed Sown with _contrition_ in his heart, than those Which, his own hand manuring, all the trees Of Paradise could have produced. _Milton._