In sober state,

Through the sequestered vale of rural life,

The venerable patriarch guileless held

The tenor of his way.

Beilby Porteus (1731-1808): Death. Line 108.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife

Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;

Along the cool sequester'd vale of life

They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Stanza 19.