Happy creature! happy thou,
Dost neither age nor winter know,
But when thou’st drank, and danced, and sung
Thy fill, the flow’ry leaves among,
Sated with the glorious feast,
Thou retir’st to endless rest.
Now is to be enjoyed in all its luxury the delightful amusement of bathing; and happy is the swimmer, who alone is able to enjoy the full pleasure of this healthful exercise. The power of habit to improve the natural faculties is in nothing more apparent than in the art of swimming. Man, without practice, is utterly unable to support himself in the water. Thomson finely describes this delightful recreation—
The sprightly youth
Speeds to the well-known pool, whose crystal depth
A sandy bottom shows. Awhile he stands