Country Life in America

COME live with me and be my love,And we will all the pleasures proveThat stream and valley, dale and field,Efficiently remodeled, yield.

The dell where I shall hide thee, dear,Must to the 'Change be fairly near—An hour from town, if aëroplaned—And thoroughly sub-tiled and drained.

For vine-wreathed cot I 'll build thee thereThe Villa d'Este, copied fair.With thirty baths, all water-filledFrom subterranean wells I 've drilled.

I ll build—of course!—a theaterWhere thou, with comrades amateur,May'st work to elevate the stage.Chief rural pastime of our age.

When in the dusk the fireflies flitAbout thy lawns, thy windows, litFrom my great dynamo, will shameTheir poor, pale phosphorescent flame.

Sometimes thou 'lt stroll in dappled shadeThrough woodland paths, macadam-laid;And gather lilies, silver-cool,From many a well-cemented pool.

The nut, the berry, sweet and wild,Shall give thee of their flavors mild,Judiciously eked out with quail.With truffles, and madeira pale.

Come live with me and be my love.And we will all the pleasures proveThat stream and valley, dale and field,The Plaza or the Ritz can yield.