My youth was spent amidst the simple charms
Of country scenes--secure from worldly din,
And then, alas! I fell into the net
Of public life, and struggled long therein.
The captive bird laments its forest home;
The fish in tanks think of the sea's broad strands;
And I oft longed, amidst official cares,
To till a settler's plot in sunny lands.
And now I have my plot of fifteen 'mow',[42]
With house thereon of rustic build and thatch;
The elm and willow cast a grateful shade,
While plum-and peach-trees fill the entrance patch.
Away from busy towns and dusty marts,
The dog barks in the silent country lane;
While chickens cluck among the mulberry-trees,
And life is healthy and the mind is sane.
Here in my house--with room for friend or two,
On my own farm--won from the barren plain,
Escaped from cares of office and routine,
I live a free and natural life again.
[42] A Chinese acre, a measure of land equal to about one-fifth of an
English acre.
_The Brevity of Life_