P> Th' illusion escapes from their view.
Those peaceable days knew no care,
Except what arose from my play,
My favourite lambkin and hare,
And cabin I built o'er the way.
No cares did I say? Ah! I'm wrong:
Even childhood from cares is not free:
Far distant I see a grim throng
Shake horrible lances at me!
One day--I remember it still--
For pranks I had played on the clown
Who lived on the neighbouring hill,
My cabin was trod to the ground.
Who ever felt grief such as I
When crashed by this terrible blow?
Not Priam, the monarch of Troy,
When all his proud towers lay low.
And grief upon grief was my lot:
Soon after, my lambkin was slain;
My hare, having strayed from its cot,
Was chased by the hounds o'er the plain.
What countless calamities teem
From memory's page on my view!--
How trifling soever you seem,
Yet once I have wept over you.
Then cease, foolish heart, to re
