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Where sin rules rampant over all;
To roam where greenwoods thickest grow,
Where meadows spread and rivers flow,
Where mountains loom in mist, or lie
Clad in a sunshine livery;
Wander through dingle and through dell,
Which the sweet primrose loveth well;
And where, in every ivied cranny
Of mouldering crag, unseen by any,
Clouds of busy birds are dinning
Anthems that welcome day's beginning:
Or, like lusty shepherd groom,
Wade through seas of yellow broom;
And, with foot elastic tread
On the shrinking floweret's bead,
As it droops with dew-drops laden,
Like some tear-surcharged maiden:
Skip it, trip it deftly, till
Every flower-cup liquor spill,
And green earth grows bacchanal,
Freed from night's o'ershadowing pall;
Or let us climb the steep, and know
How the mountain breezes blow.
Hither, brave Fancy! Speed we on,
Like Judah's bard to Lebanon!
