Fancy in Nubibus, or the Poet in the Clouds

O! it is pleasant, with a heart at ease,

       &nbspJust after sunset, or by moonlight skies,

To make the shifting clouds be what you please,

       &nbspOr let the easily persuaded eyes

Own each quaint likeness issuing from the mould

       &nbspOf a friend's fancy; or with head bent low

And cheek aslant see rivers flow of gold

       &nbsp'Twixt crimson banks; and then, a traveller, go

From mount to mount through Cloudland, gorgeous land!

       &nbspOr list'ning to the tide, with closéd sight,

Be that blind bard, who on the Chian strand

       &nbspBy those deep sounds possessed with inward light,

Beheld the Iliad and the Odyssee

       &nbspRise to the swelling of the voiceful sea.