Retrospect, that sears the mind;
Rapt, earth-gazing reverie;
Blushing, artless modesty;
Health, that snuffs the morning air;
Full-ey’d truth, with bosom bare;
Inspiration, nature’s child,
Seek the solitary wild.
The state of the mind, if properly consulted, will discover whether solitude may be safely indulged. The bosom that, amidst the gay delights and luxurious pleasures of the world, feels a rising discontent and uneasiness, may try the retreats of solitude without danger: and if, after a certain period, an attachment to its mild and tranquil scenes continues, and the heart enjoys that quietude and content which it before so vainly wished to experience, society may be advantageously relinquished. The patient may, under such circumstances, safely indulge the natural inclinations of the mind, and gratify the habitual feelings of his heart: he may then exclaim in the language of the poet,
“Oh! snatch me swift from those tumultuous scenes,
To lonely groves and sweetly verdant greens,