Summary

The speaker begins by bidding farewell to the estate of Cooke-ham. She refers to it as a place of perfection, where the muses inspired her to write. Everything delightful was there.

Now, however, she is leaving, likely never to return. She asks the "mistris of that place," the Countess of Cumberland, to spend a moment reflecting on the pleasurable times at Cooke-ham (11). The speaker suggests they are like the shadows of heavenly joy to come.

She then describes the various parts of the estate: the clean and well-decorated house, the summery walkways, the flowering trees, the clear streams, the birds chirping, and the hills around the estate. Together, the image is one of perfection, and of perfectly supporting the Countess in this landscape. Even the little animals would come out to greet her, though they would hide when she began to hunt.

Analysis

Initially...