“I could do no worse than that,” murmured Mr Stodham confidently.
“He wrote a sonnet to a haycock, and another to Hope on an intention of emigrating to America:
“‘Th’ American wilds, where Simplicity’s reign
Will cherish the Muse and her pupil defend ...
I’ll dwell with Content in the desert alone.’
They were blessed days when Content still walked the earth with a capital C, and probably a female form in light classic drapery. There was Felicity also. Iolo wrote ‘Felicity, a pastoral.’ He composed a poem to the cuckoo, and translated the famous Latin couplet which says that two pilgrimages to St David’s are equivalent to one to Rome itself:
“‘Would haughty Popes your senses bubble,
And once to Rome your steps entice;
’Tis quite as well, and saves some trouble,