Laudator Temporis Acti

Robert Southey (1774-1843), "Inscription VII. For a TABLET on the Banks of a Stream," Poems, 2nd ed. (Bristol: N. Biggs, 1797), p. 139 (line numbers added):

Stranger! awhile upon this mossy bank
Recline thee. If the Sun rides high, the breeze,
That loves to ripple o'er the rivulet,
Will play around thy brow, and the cool sound
Of running waters soothe thee. Mark how clear        5
It sparkles o'er the shallows, and behold
Where o'er its surface wheels with restless speed
Yon glossy insect, on the sand below
How the swift shadow flits. The stream is pure
In solitude, and many a healthful herb        10
Bends o'er its course and drinks the vital wave:
But passing on amid the haunts of man,
It finds pollution there, and rolls from thence
A tainted tide. Seek'st thou for HAPPINESS?
Go, Stranger, sojourn in the woodland cot        15
Of INNOCENCE, and thou shalt find her there.

A revised version, in The Poetical Works of Robert Southey Collected by Himself, Vol. III (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1838), p. 107 (now numbered Inscriptions, V; line numbers added):

Stranger! awhile upon this mossy bank
Recline thee. If the Sun rides high, the breeze,
That loves to ripple o'er the rivulet,
Will play around thy brow, and the cool sound
Of running waters soothe thee. Mark how clear        5
They sparkle o'er the shallows, and behold
Where o'er their surface wheels with restless speed
Yon glossy insect, on the sand below
How its swift shadow flits. In solitude
The rivulet is pure, and trees and herbs,        10
Bend o'er its salutary course refresh'd,
But passing on amid the haunts of men,
It finds pollution there, and rolls from thence
A tainted stream. Seek'st thou for HAPPINESS?
Go, Stranger, sojourn in the woodland cot        15
Of INNOCENCE, and thou shalt find her there.

Related post: In the Shade.