From the green Terrace on the higher Ground,

With Flowers in Knolls on many a sunny Bank,

Where the white flocks o’er velvet Pasture bound;

Where Gold-fish long possess’d their marble Tank,

And steeds with silky Sides the living Water drank.

It was a lovely and a rich domain,

Vex’d by no Debt, no Mortgage, no Decrease;

No Tenant came with unredress’d Complaint 30

Of Churlish Steward or of rigorous Lease;

In the fair Village dwelt perpetual Peace,