FAREWELL STANZAS ON LEAVING COOKHAM, IN THE SPRING OF THE YEAR, 1781,

WHEN MR. B. WAS NOT QUITE EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD, TWO YEARS AFTER HE LEFT ETON-SCHOOL.

TO MRS. MALTHUS.

YE nymphs and swains, so innocently gay,
 Who dwell where Thames rolls on his silver way;
 Where'er in Cookham's lov'd retreats you stray,
 To you a wand'rer gives his parting lay;
 Nor will he e'er forget those blissful days,
 Where on your banks he tun'd his artless lays;
 To you his Muse this parting tribute pays,
 And sings, but sings unbrib'd, your modest praise. 
But now a long farewell, ye nymphs, ye swains;
 With you no more I tread the verdant plains,
 No more with you I share my joys, my pains,
 Nor shall you hear again my plaintive strains:
 But ere, lov'd Thames, thy flow'ry banks I leave,
 Where oft I've hail'd th' approach of sober eve,
 Do thou, whilst Fate permits a short reprieve,
 Do thou, dear Thames, this parting wish receive;
 "O! ever gently flow, thou hallow'd stream! 
O! may thy waves be still the Muse's theme! 
When on thy banks pale Cynthia sheds her beam,
" O! there may Fancy gild the Poet's dream!