Laudator Temporis Acti

John Stuart Blackie (1809-1895), "Parva Domus Magna Quies," Musa Burschicosa: A Book of Songs for Students and University Men (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1869), pp. 69-71:

On a little grassy knoll,
  Beneath the huge Ben More,
Where the loch's clear amber waters
  Lave the white and pebbly shore,
I have built a little dwelling,
  Without or pomp or state,
In smallness quite excelling;
  But oh! the peace is great.

From the hot and dusty tumult
  Of the men that rule the land,
From the pageant of the Park,
  And the rattle of the Strand;
From the weariness and worry
  Of contention and debate,
I am sheltered, I am hidden;
  And my peace is very great.

From the knocking and the ringing
  Of the beggar and the bore,
When every man is bringing
  Every business to my door;
From saying Yes, and saying No,
  To seas of endless prate,
I am sheltered, I am hidden;
  And my peace is very great.

From the doctrine and the dogma
  Of each lofty-fancied fool,
Who would take the great Creator
  (If Creator be) to school;
From the thousand maggots swarming
  In each eager-witted pate,
I am sheltered, I am hidden;
  And my peace is very great.

From the carping and the grumbling
  Of the spiteful and the small,
Who, when mighty things are tumbling,
  Love to see the mighty fall;
From the lust of hot reforming
  In the Church and in the State,
I am sheltered, I am hidden;
  And my peace is very great.

With a wife to share my pillow,
  And a man to row my boat,
And a rod to lash the billow
  And a friend to glass my thought;
With no great ambition swelling,
  And no questions asked of Fate,
Pride leaves the little dwelling;
  But my peace is very great.

Then fare-thee-well, the City's din,
  The tumult and the throng,
For a moment and a moment
  To myself I will belong;
In my lonely mountain dwelling
  Disrobed of empty state,
In smallness quite excelling,
  And in peace how very great!

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