In London I never knew what I'd be at
Enraptured with this, and enchanted by that
I'm wild with the sweets of variety's plan
And life seems a blessing too happy for man
But the country, Lord help me!, sets all matters right
So calm and composing from morning to night;
Oh! it settles the spirit when nothing is seen
But an ass on a common, a goose on a green
Your magpies and stockdoves may flirt among trees
And chatter their transports in groves, if they please:
But a house is much more to my taste than a tree
And for groves, O! a good grove of chimneys for me
In the country, if Cupid should find a man out
The poor tortured victim mopes hopeless about
But in London, thank Hеaven! our peace is sеcure
Where for one eye to kill, there's a thousand to cure
I know love's a devil, too subtle to spy
That shoots through the soul, from the beam of an eye;
But in London these devils so quick fly about
That a new devil shill drives an old devil out
The contrast was written by William Walton.