Prankt-coloured, adorned Ween-to think, be of opi

Perdie (Fr. par Dieu)-an Weet—to know; to weet,

N. B. The letter Y is frequently placed in the begining of a word by Spenfer, to lengthen it a fyllable, and en at the end of a word, for the fame reafon, as withouten, caften, &c.

THE

CASTLE OF INDOLENCE

The caftle hight of indolence,

And its falfe luxury;

Where for a little time, alas!
We liv'd right jollily.

I.

Mortal man, who liveft here by toil,

Do not complain of this thy hard eftate;
That like an emmet thou must ever moil,
Is a fad fentence of an ancient date;

And, certes, there is for it reafon great;

For, though fometimes it makes thee weep and wail, And curfe thy star, and early drudge and late, Withouten that would come an heavier bale, Loofe life, unruly paffions, and diseases pale. II.

In lowly dale, fast by a river's side,

With woody hill o'er hill encompass'd round,

A most enchanting wizard did abide,

'Than whom a fiend more fell is no where found.

It was, I ween, a lovely spot of ground;
And there a feafon atween June and May,

Half prankt with fpring, with fummer half imbrown'd,
A liftlefs climate made, where, footh to fay,

No living wight could work, ne cared ev'n for play.

III. Was

III.

Was nought around but images of rest: Sleep-foothing groves, and quiet lawns between; And flowery beds that flumberous influence kest, From poppies breath'd; and beds of pleasant green, Where never yet was creeping creature seen. Meantime unnumber'd glittering ftreamlets play'd, And hurled every-where their waters sheen ; That, as they bicker'd through the funny glade, Though reftlefs ftill themselves, a lulling murmur made.

IV.

Join'd to the prattle of the purling rills,
Were heard the lowing herds along the vale,
And flocks loud-bleating from the distant hills,
And vacant fhepherds piping in the dale :
And now and then sweet Philomel would wail,
Or stock-doves plain amid the forest deep,
That drowsy ruftled to the fighing gale;
And fill a coil the grasshopper did keep;
Yet all these founds yblent inclined all to fleep.
V.

Full in the paffage of the vale, above,

A fable, filent, folemn forest stood;

Where nought but shadowy forms was feen to move,
As Idlefs fancy'd in her dreaming mood:

And

up the hills, on either fide, a wood

Of blackening pines, ay waving to and fro,

Sent forth a fleepy horror through the blood;

And where this valley winded out, below, [flow, The murmuring main was heard, and scarcely heard, tỏ

BOD

VI. A

VI.

A pleafing land of drowsy-head it was,

Of dreams that wave before the half-fhut eye; And of gay castles in the clouds that pass, For ever flushing round a fummer-sky : There eke the foft delights, that witchingly Inftil a wanton sweetness through the breast, And the calm pleasures always hover'd nigh; But whate'er fmack'd of noyance, or unrest, Was far far off expell'd from this delicious nest. VII.

The landskip such, inspiring perfect ease, Where Indolence (for fo the wizard hight) Clofe-hid his caftle mid embowering trees, That half shut out the beams of Phoebus bright, And made a kind of checker'd day and night; Meanwhile, unceasing at the massy gate, Beneath a fpacious palm, the wicked wight Was plac'd; and to his lute, of cruel fate, And labour harsh, complain'd, lamenting man's eftate. VIII.

Thither continual pilgrims crowded still,

From all the roads of earth that pass there by :
For, as they chaunc'd to breathe on neighbouring hill,
The freshness of this valley fmote their eye,

And drew them ever and anon more nigh;

Till clustering round th' enchanter false they hung, Y molten with his fyren melody;

While o'er th' enfeebling lute his hand he flung,

And to the trembling chords these tempting verfes fung: IX. "Be

IX.

"Behold! ye pilgrims of this earth, behold! "See all but man with unearn'd pleasure gay : "See her bright robes the butterfly unfold, "Broke from her wintery tomb in prime of May! "What youthful bride can equal her array ? "Who can with her for eafy pleasure vie? "From mead to mead with gentle wing to ftray, "From flower to flower on balmy gales to fly, "Is all she has to do beneath the radiant sky. X.

"Behold the merry minstrels of the morn, "The fwarming fongfters of the carelefs grove, "Ten thousand throats! that from the flowering thorn,

66

Hymn their good God, and carol fweet of love, "Such grateful kindly raptures them emove : "They neither plough, nor fow; ne, fit for flail, "E'er to the barn the nodden fheaves they drove; "Yet theirs each harvest dancing in the gale, "Whatever crowns the hill, or files along the vale. XI.

"Outcaft of nature, man! the wretched thrall
"Of bitter dropping fweat, of fweltry pain,
"Of cares that eat away thy heart with gall,
"And of the vicés, an inhuman train,

"That all proceed from favage thirst of gain "For when hard-hearted Interest first began "To poison earth, Aftræa left the plain; "Guile, violence, and murder feiz'd on man, "And, for foft milky ftreams, with blood the rivers ran. XII. "Come,