My thoughts by night are often filled
With visions false as fair:
For in the past alone I build
My castles in the air.
_Castles in the Air_. T.L. PEACOCK.
It is a dream, sweet child! a waking dream,
A blissful certainty, a vision bright,
Of that rare happiness, which even on earth
Heaven gives to those it loves.
_The Spanish Student, Act iii. Sc. 5_. H.W. LONGFELLOW.
Hence the fool's paradise, the statesman's scheme,
The air-built castle, and the golden dream.
The maid's romantic wish, the chemist's flame,
And poet's vision of eternal fame.
_Dunciad, Bk. III_. A. POPE.
And still they dream, that they shall still succeed;
And still are disappointed. Rings the world
With the vain stir. I sum up half mankind,
And add two-thirds of the remaining half,
And find the total of their hopes and fears
Dreams, empty dreams.
_The Task, Bk. VI_. W. COWPER.
[_Witches vanish_.
BANQUO.--The earth hath bubbles as the water has,
And these are of them. Whither are they vanished?
MACBETH.--Into the air; and what seemed corporal melted
As breath into the wind.
_Macbeth, Act i. Sc. 3_. SHAKESPEARE.
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons, and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol.
O Cæsar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.
_Julius Cæsar, Act ii. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.
Lochiel, Lochiel! beware of the day;
For, dark and despairing, my sight I may seal,
But man cannot cover what God would reveal;
'T is the sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
And coming events cast their shadows before.
_Lochiel's Warning_. T. CAMPBELL.