WHEN Love with unconfined wings   Hovers within my gates, And my divine Althea brings   To whisper at the grates; When I lie tangled in her hair   And fetter'd to her eye, The birds that wanton in the air   Know no such liberty.

When flowing cups run swiftly round   With no allaying Thames, Our careless heads with roses bound,   Our hearts with loyal flames; When thirsty grief in wine we steep,   When healths and draughts go free— Fishes that tipple in the deep   Know no such liberty.

When, like committed linnets, I   With shriller throat shall sing The sweetness, mercy, majesty,   And glories of my King; When I shall voice aloud how good   He is, how great should be, Enlarged winds, that curl the flood,   Know no such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make,   Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take   That for an hermitage; If I have freedom in my love   And in my soul am free, Angels alone, that soar above,   Enjoy such liberty.