The distant doves their plaintive moans prolong,

And sweet perfumes arise where’er I turn,

To woo a wand’rer from a world of wrong.

And why should one look further for a grave,

And seek vain pomps and plaudits ere he die?

Earth’s gold is venom, each great king a slave

To some vile passion, and enjoyments fly

We know not whither, but they ne’er return;

And memory brings but a tear or sigh

For moments lost, for bliss we once could spurn,