To a luxuriant bounty!--As our steps 520 Approach the embowered abode--our chosen seat-- See, rooted in the earth, her[254] kindly bed, The unendangered myrtle, decked with flowers, Before the threshold stands to welcome us! While, in the flowering myrtle's neighbourhood, 525 Not overlooked but courting no regard, Those native plants, the holly and the yew, Gave modest intimation to the mind How willingly their aid[255] they would unite With the green myrtle, to endear the hours 530 Of winter, and protect that pleasant place. --Wild were the walks upon those lonely Downs,[DJ] Track leading into track; how marked, how worn Into bright verdure, between fern and gorse, Winding away its never ending line 535 On their smooth surface, evidence was none: But, there, lay open to our daily haunt A range of unappropriated earth, Where youth's ambitious feet might move at large; Whence, unmolested wanderers, we beheld 540 The shining giver of the day diffuse His brightness o'er a tract of sea and land Gay as our spirits, free as our desires; As our enjoyments, boundless.--From those heights We dropped, at pleasure, into sylvan combs;[DJ] 545 Where arbours of impenetrable shade, And mossy seats, detained us side by side, With hearts at ease, and knowledge in our hearts 'That all the grove and all the day was ours.'