SECLUSION

Shut out the World, shut in the Home!

The sea is deeper than its foam;

Retain the gem, reject the paste;

Withdraw from Mammon's feverish haste,

Its tumult and its senseless waste.

Within are love, and books, and flowers,—

Creators of life's happiest hours;

Without are those whose baneful call,

If once they pass within thy wall,

May blight the beauty of it all.

Think not they come for love of thee!

They seek from ennui to be free,

To ask some boon, or tell some tale

Which, true or false, will rarely fail

To leave behind a poisoned trail.

What else indeed can such as they

Invent to pass their time away?

Their thoughts revolve round sport and dress,

Their reading is the daily press,

Their mental life a wilderness.

What though their dwellings rise near thine?

Propinquity is not a sign

Of loyal hearts or kindred views;

Thou surely hast a right to choose

Whom thou wilt welcome, whom refuse.

Decline to let those mar thy joy,

Whose manners wound, and words annoy;

The vapid, heartless throng eschew;

Admit alone,— alas, how few!—

The really kind, the really true.

Yet when did ever a recluse

Escape the baffled crowd's abuse?

The social world will ne'er condone

Thy preference to live alone

Amid resources of thine own.

Well, let it scoff, malign, or... worse!

Thou hast an independent purse;

Alike to thee its smile or sneer,

It hath no power to cause thee fear,

Nor is its censure worth a tear.

Hence,‘ mid thy flowers, books, and trees

Strive not the multitude to please;

Regard its humors as the spray

Which winds blow lightly o'er the bay;

Live thine own life, and win the day!