and build castles in the air, to go smiling to themselves, acting an
infinite variety of parts, which they suppose and strongly imagine they
represent, or that they see acted or done: _Blandae quidem ab initio_,
saith Lemnius, to conceive and meditate of such pleasant things, sometimes,
[1560]"present, past, or to come," as Rhasis speaks. So delightsome these
toys are at first, they could spend whole days and nights without sleep,
even whole years alone in such contemplations, and fantastical meditations,
which are like unto dreams, and they will hardly be drawn from them, or
willingly interrupt, so pleasant their vain conceits are, that they hinder
their ordinary tasks and necessary business, they cannot address themselves
to them, or almost to any study or employment, these fantastical and
bewitching thoughts so covertly, so feelingly, so urgently, so continually
set upon, creep in, insinuate, possess, overcome, distract, and detain
them, they cannot, I say, go about their more necessary business, stave off
or extricate themselves, but are ever musing, melancholising, and carried
along, as he (they say) that is led round about a heath with a Puck in the
night, they run earnestly on in this labyrinth of anxious and solicitous
melancholy meditations, and cannot well or willingly refrain, or easily
leave off, winding and unwinding themselves, as so many clocks, and still
pleasing their humours, until at last the scene is turned upon a sudden, by
some bad object, and they being now habituated to such vain meditations and
solitary places, can endure no company, can ruminate of nothing but harsh
and distasteful subjects. Fear, sorrow, suspicion, _subrusticus pudor_,
discontent, cares, and weariness of life surprise them in a moment, and
they can think of nothing else, continually suspecting, no sooner are their
eyes open, but this infernal plague of melancholy seizeth on them, and
terrifies their souls, representing some dismal object to their minds,
which now by no means, no labour, no persuasions they can avoid, _haeret
lateri lethalis arundo_, (the arrow of death still remains in the side),
they may not be rid of it, [1561]they cannot resist. I may not deny but