THE

TEMPLE

OF

DULNESS.

Tranflated by the fame Hand,

X

Materies gaudet vi Inertiæ.

V

Ervecum in patria, quà latè Hibernica squalent Arva inarata, palus horrenda voragine crebrâ Ante oculos jacet; haud illic impune viator Per tenebras iter inftituat; tremit undique tellus Sub pedibus malefida, vapores undique denfos Sudat humus, nebulisque amicitur tristibus herba.

"

5

Huc fato infelix fi quando agiteris iniquo, Et tutò in medium liceat penetrare, videbis. Attonitus, nigrâ de nube emergere templum, Templum ingens, immane, altum penetrale Stuporis. 10 Plumbea ftat turris, plumbum finuatur in arcus, Et folido limofa tument fundamina plumbo. Hanc, pia Materies, Divo ædem extruxit inerti, Stultitiæ impulsu---quid enim? Lethargica femper

Sponte

THE

TEMPLE of DULNESS.

Tranflated by the fame Hand.

I

'N Ireland's wild, uncultivated plains,
Where torpid floth, and foggy dulness reigns,
Full many a fen infefts the putrid fhore,
And many a gulph the melancholy moor.
Let not the stranger in these regions ftray,
Dark is the sky, and perilous the way;
Beneath his foot-steps shakes the trembling ground,
Dense fogs and exhalations hover round,
And with black clouds the tender turf is crown'd.

Here fhou'd'ft thou rove, by Fate's fevere command,. And safely reach the center of the land;

Thine eyes shall view, with horror and furprize,
The fane of Dulnefs, of enormous fize,
Emerging from the fable cloud arise.
A leaden tow'r upheaves its heavy head,
Vaft leaden arches prefs the flimy bed,
The foft foil fwells beneath the load of lead.
Old Matter here erected this abode,
At Folly's impulfe, to the Slothful God.

X 2

5

1 I

15

And