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 A wilderness of building, sinking far And self-withdrawn into a wondrous depth, Far sinking into splendour—without end! Fabric it seem'd of diamond, and of gold, With alabaster domes, and silver spires, And blazing terrace upon terrace, high Uplifted; here, serene pavilions bright In avenues disposed; there towers begirt With battlements that on their restless fronts Bore stars—illumination of all gems! By earthly nature had the effect been wrought Upon the dark materials of the storm Now pacified: on them, and on the coves, And mountain-steeps and summits, whereunto The vapours had receded,—taking there Their station under a cerulean sky, &c.&c.

The sublime circumstance—"battlements that on their restless fronts bore stars,"—might have been copied from my architectural dreams, for it often occurred.—We hear it reported of Dryden, and of Fuseli in modern times, that they thought proper to eat raw meat for the sake of obtaining splendid dreams: how much better for such a purpose to have eaten opium, which yet I do not remember that any poet is recorded to have done, except the dramatist Shadwell: and in ancient days,