Nature
Lines: Richer than Miser o'er his countless hoards
From Complete Poetical Works, ed. E. H. Coleridge (1912)
Richer than Miser o'er his countless hoards,
Nobler than Kings, or king-polluted Lords,
Here dwelt the MAN OF ROSS! O Traveller, hear!
Departed Merit claims a reverent tear.
Friend to the friendless, to the sick man health,
With generous joy he view'd his modest wealth;
He heard the widow's heaven-breath'd prayer of praise,
He mark'd the shelter'd orphan's tearful gaze,
Or where the sorrow-shrivell'd captive lay,
Pour'd the bright blaze of Freedom's noon-tide ray.
Beneath this roof if thy cheer'd moments pass,
Fill to the good man's name one grateful glass:
To higher zest shall Memory wake thy soul,
And Virtue mingle in the ennobled bowl.
But if, like me, through Life's distressful scene
Lonely and sad thy pilgrimage hath been;
And if thy breast with heart-sick anguish fraught,
Thou journeyest onward tempest-tossed in thought;
Here cheat thy cares! in generous visions melt,
And dream of Goodness, thou hast never felt!
Codex Note
Written at the King's Arms, Ross, Formerly the House of the 'Man of Ross'. 1794
Cite this poem
MLA
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “Lines: Richer than Miser o'er his countless hoards.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/coleridge/139/.
Chicago
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “Lines: Richer than Miser o'er his countless hoards.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/coleridge/139/.
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