Who has to spare himself and his time,
his precious time? Who seeks new roads,
to pursue idle merriment? Who tires of stone and board
and other, worse dirt, that counts itself a game?
Come where I go, when fleeing Hague and court,
Stay where you are, and follow me in Hofwijck
Quote from ‘To the Reader’
(from the Hofwijck poem) lines 1 - 6