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The Shepherd's Life
My flocks hadst thou e'er seen them, where they feed
Upon the hills and flowery-vestured plains;
And heard me pipe to them on Shepherd's reed,
Then would'st thou leave fore'er thy sordid gains;
Upon the hills and flowery-vestured plains;
And heard me pipe to them on Shepherd's reed,
Then would'st thou leave fore'er thy sordid gains;
And haste thee where the streams so gently flow,
Where sounding pines and rocks above me rise;
And seek this quiet life of mine to know,
And learn its simple joys with me to prize.
Where sounding pines and rocks above me rise;
And seek this quiet life of mine to know,
And learn its simple joys with me to prize.
How quietly the morning melts away
Into the noon, while on the grass I lie;
And noon fades quickly into evening gray,
When troop the stars across the o'erhanging sky.
Into the noon, while on the grass I lie;
And noon fades quickly into evening gray,
When troop the stars across the o'erhanging sky.
Here day by day I know, nor want, nor care,
For all I need has love paternal given;
And bid me bounteous all its blessings share,
And know on earth the bliss of those in heaven.
For all I need has love paternal given;
And bid me bounteous all its blessings share,
And know on earth the bliss of those in heaven.
Thine be the Shepherd's life, his cot be thine,
And may'st thou sit beside him at his board;
Then wilt thou cease to sorrow, or repine,
And to the peace Christ gave him be restored.
And may'st thou sit beside him at his board;
Then wilt thou cease to sorrow, or repine,
And to the peace Christ gave him be restored.
Poem No. 337; fall 1839
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