Sonnet to Solitude

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,

      Let it not be among the jumbled heap

      Of murky buildings; climb with me the steep,—

Nature's observatory,—whence the dell,

Its flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,

      May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep

      'Mongst boughs pavilion'd, where the deer's swift leap

Startles the wild bee from the foxglove bell.

But though I 'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,

      Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,

      Whose words are images of thoughts refin'd,

Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be

      Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,

When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.