The Castle of Indolence (poem)

The Castle of Indolence (poem)

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

According to the Nuttall Encyclopedia, the Castle of Indolence is "a place in which the dwellers live amid luxurious delights, to the enervation of soul and body." The poem is written in Spenserian stanzas at a time when they were considered outdated and initiated an interest in this stanza form which would later have a strong influence upon the English Romantic poets Byron, Wordsworth, and Keats.

Washington Irving quotes lines (46-49) from the poem in his timeless tale, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". In fact, the quotation from 'The Castle of Indolence' opens the story and sets the scene.

46 A pleasing land of drowsy-hed it was,
47 Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;
48 And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,
49 Forever flushing round a summer-sky

External links

* [http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/2206.html Excerpt from the poem]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Castle of Indolence — may refer to:* The Castle of Indolence (card game), a solitaire card game * The Castle of Indolence (poem), a poem written by James Thomson …   Wikipedia

  • CASTLE OF INDOLENCE —    a poem of Thomson s, a place in which the dwellers live amid luxurious delights, to the enervation of soul and body …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • A Vindication of the Rights of Men — A Vindication of the Rights of Men, in a Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke; Occasioned by His Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) is a political pamphlet, written by the eighteenth century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft …   Wikipedia

  • Thomas M. Disch — at South Street Seaport on June 3, 2008 Born Thomas Michael Disch February 2, 1940(1940 02 02) Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. Died …   Wikipedia

  • English literature — Introduction       the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the British Isles are… …   Universalium

  • Forme dans l'œuvre poétique de Robert Browning — Robert Browning, peint par Rudolph Lehmann. Analyser la forme dans l’œuvre poétique de Robert Browning (1812 1889) se heurte d’emblée à l’abondance du sujet : cette œuvre est ambitieuse, les recueils ainsi que les poèmes sont souvent longs… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • James Thomson (poet) — Infobox Writer name = James Thomson birthdate = birth date|1700|9|11|df=y birthplace = Ednam, Roxburghshire, Scotland deathdate = death date and age|1748|8|27|1700|9|11|df=y deathplace = London, EnglandJames Thomson (11 September, 1700 ndash; 27… …   Wikipedia

  • Thomson, James — ▪ 2002       On Aug. 9, 2001, U.S. Pres. George W. Bush announced that the federal government would support research on the approximately 60 existing lines (self sustaining colonies) of human embryonic stem cells, microscopically tiny… …   Universalium

  • Thomson, James — 1) (1700 1748)    Poet, s. of the minister of Ednam, Roxburghshire, spent most of his youth, however, at Southdean, a neighbouring parish, to which his f. was translated. He was ed. at the parish school there, at Jedburgh, and at Edin., whither… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • THOMSON, JAMES —    1) the poet of the Seasons, born, the son of the parish minister, at Ednam, Roxburghshire; was educated and trained for the ministry at Edinburgh University, but already wooing the muse, he, shortly after his father s death in 1725, went to… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”