In awful pomp and melancholy state, <br />See settled Reason on the judgement-seat; <br />Around her crowd Distrust, and Doubt, and Fear, <br />And thoughtful Foresight, and tormenting Care; <br />Far from the throne the trembling Pleasures stand, <br />Chain'd up or exiled by her stern command. <br />Wretched her subjects, gloomy sits the queen, <br />Till happy chance reverts the cruel scene; <br />And apish Folly, with her wild resort <br />Of wit and jest, disturbs the solemn court. <br /> <br />See the fantastic Minstrelsy advance <br />To breathe the song and animate the dance. <br />Bless'd the usurper! happy the surprise! <br />Her mimic postures catch our eager eyes; <br />Her jingling bells affect our captive ear, <br />And in the sights we see and sounds we hear, <br />Against our judgement she our sense employs, <br />The laws of troubled reason she drestroys, <br />And in their place rejoices to indite <br />Wild schemes of mirth and plans of loose delight.<br /><br />Matthew Prior<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-passage-in-the-moriae-encomium-of-erasmus-imitated/
