Page:The castle of Indolence - an allegorical poem - Written in imitation of Spenser (IA castleofindolenc00thomiala).pdf/27

 The Rooms with costly Tapestry were hung, Where was inwoven many a gentle Tale; Such as of old the rural Poets sung, Or of Arcadian or Sicilian Vale: Reclining Lovers, in the lonely Dale, Pour'd forth at large the sweetly-tortur'd Heart; Or, looking tender Passion, swell'd the Gale, And taught charm'd Echo to resound their Smart;

Those pleas'd the most, where, by a cunning Hand, was the Patriarchal Age; What Time Dan Abraham left the Chaldee Land, And pastur'd on from verdant Stage to Stage, Where Fields and Fountains fresh could best engage. Toil was not then. Of nothing took they Heed, But with wild Beasts the silvan War to wage, And o'er vast Plains their Herds and Flocks to feed: