Quotes from work
The Castle of Indolence

James Thomson (poet)

The Castle of Indolence is a poem written by James Thomson, a Scottish poet of the 18th century, in 1748.

“A pleasing land of drowsyhed it was,
Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;
And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,
Forever flushing round a summer sky:
There eke the soft delights that witchingly
Instil a wanton sweetness through the breast,
And the calm pleasures always hover'd nigh;
But whate'er smack'd of noyance or unrest
Was far, far off expell'd from this delicious nest.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 6.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“The best of men have ever loved repose:
They hate to mingle in the filthy fray;
Where the soul sours, and gradual rancour grows,
Imbitter'd more from peevish day to day.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 17.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“A little, round, fat, oily man of God.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 69.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“I care not, Fortune, what you me deny;
You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace,
You cannot shut the windows of the sky,
Through which Aurora shows her brightening face;
You cannot bar my constant feet to trace
The woods and lawns, by living stream, at eve.
Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace,
And I their toys to the great children leave:
Of fancy, reason, virtue, naught can me bereave.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto II, Stanza 3.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“They who are pleased themselves must always please.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 15.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“A bard here dwelt, more fat than bard becomes
Who void of envy, guile and lust of gain,
On virtue still and nature's pleasing themes
Poured forth his unpremeditated strain.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 68. (Last line said to be "writ by a friend of the author.").
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“He ceased; but still their trembling ears retained
The deep vibrations of his witching song.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 20.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“O fair undress, best dress! it checks no vein,
But every flowing limb in pleasure drowns,
And heightens ease with grace.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 26.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“Ah! what avail the largest gifts of Heaven,
When drooping health and spirits go amiss?
How tasteless then whatever can be given!
Health is the vital principle of bliss,
And exercise, of health.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto II, Stanza 55.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“Their only labour was to kill the time;
And labour dire it is, and weary woe,
They sit, they loll, turn o'er some idle rhyme,
Then, rising sudden, to the glass they go,
Or saunter forth, with tottering steps and slow.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 72.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“But what most showed the vanity of life
Was to behold the nations all on fire.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 55.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

“Plac'd far amid the melancholy main.”

James Thomson (poet) The Castle of Indolence

Canto I, Stanza 30.
The Castle of Indolence (1748)

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