Question

The Traveller

Accepted Answer

The Traveller; or, a Prospect of Society (1764) is a philosophical poem by Oliver Goldsmith. In heroic verse of an Augustan style it discusses the causes of happiness and unhappiness in nations. It was the work which first made Goldsmith's name, and is still considered a classic of mid-18th-century poetry.

Synopsis
The dedication to The Traveller sets out Goldsmith's purpose:

I have endeavoured to shew, that there may be equal happiness in states, that are differently governed from our own; that every state has a particular principle of happiness, and that this principle in each may be carried to a mischievous excess.

He begins the poem by extolling the happiness of his brother Henry's simple family life. Then, from a vantage-point in the Alps, he surveys the condition of the world. Every nation, he says, considers itself the happiest, but this is only because each nation judges by its own standards. In fact, happiness is probably equally spread, though in different forms which tend to be mutually exclusive.

From art more various are the blessings sent,—
Wealth, commerce, honour, liberty, content.
Yet these each other's power so strong contest,
That either seems destructive of the rest.
Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails,
And honour sinks where commerce long prevails.

— Lines 87-92
Then Goldsmith turns to consider various countries individually. Italy is naturally fertile and was formerly successful in commerce, but has since been overtaken by other countries. The remaining great works of art and architecture only inspire a childish love of show in the Italians. The Swiss have poverty, but also equality. They love home-life and simple things, but have no nobility of soul. France is a nation motivated by honour, and is therefore too prone to vanity. In Holland industry has brought prosperity, but

Even liberty itself is barter'd here:
At gold's superior charms all freedom flies,
The needy sell it, and the rich man buys.

— Lines 306-308
Britain's free constitution has led to a lack of social cohesion, the rich defending their own liberties by oppressing the poor. Those who have escaped this problem by fleeing across the Atlantic have found a harsh and dangerous land in America. The poem concludes with the thought that happiness lies within:

How small, of all that human hearts endure,
That part which laws or kings can cause or cure!
Still to ourselves in every place consign'd,
Our own felicity we make or find:

Happiness Poem Traveller Goldsmith's Principle Simple Nation Art