O solitude , my sweetest choice
Places devoted to the night ,
remote from tumult and from noise
how ye my restless thoughts delight
O solitude , my sweetest choice
O heav'ns what content is mine
to see these trees ,
which have appeared from the nativity of time ,
and which all ages have revered ,
to look today as fresh and green
as when their beauties first were seen .
Oh , how agreeable a sight
these hanging mountains do appear ,
which th'unhappy would invite
to finish all their sorrows here ,
when their hard fate makes them endure such woes
as only death can cure .
Oh , how I solitude adore ,
that element of noblest wit ,
where I have learnt Apollo's lore ,
without the pains to study it .
For thy sake I in love am grown
with what thy fancy doth pursue ,
but when I think upon my own ,
I hate it for that reason too ,
because it needs must hinder me from seeing
and from serving thee .
O solitude , oh how I solitude adore
