Song: Theres pleasure on the pasture lea

Theres pleasure on the pasture lea

& peace within the cottage
But theres na peace at a' for me
While love is in its dotage

I never have a thought o' gude
But worser thoughts will soil it
When heaven is man's happiest mood
The deil is sure to spoil it

Mans sweetest choice is womans yet
Scenes where her kiss was granted
The choicest place where first they met
Mid flowers bye nature planted

& there they dwell in fancys flights
In valley field & glen
In pleasant dreams & heart delights
Till neist they meet agen

The Later Poems of John Clare

ed. Eric Robinson and Geoffrey Summerfield

(Manchester University Press, 1964)