There I muse and there I stray."
Later, with "the fairest of women" by his side, when Belinda had grown to be only a memory, he composed his exquisite poem, "Retirement:"
"A hermit's house beside a stream,
With forests planted round,
Whatever it to you may seem,
More real happiness I deem
Than if I were a monarch crown'd.
"A cottage I could call my own,
Remote from domes of care;
A little garden, wall'd with stone,