Tell me where is fancy bred,
Or in the heart, or in the head?
How begot, how read more

Tell me where is fancy bred,
Or in the heart, or in the head?
How begot, how nourished?
Reply, reply.
It is engend'red in the eyes,
With gazing fed, and fancy dies
In the cradle where it lies.

Woe to the youth whom Fancy gains,
Winning from Reason's hand the reins,
Pity and woe! for read more

Woe to the youth whom Fancy gains,
Winning from Reason's hand the reins,
Pity and woe! for such a mind
Is soft contemplative, and kind.

We figure to ourselves
The thing we like, and then we build it up
As chance will read more

We figure to ourselves
The thing we like, and then we build it up
As chance will have it, on the rock or sand:
For Thought is tired of wandering o'er the world,
And homebound Fancy runs her bark ashore.

She's all my fancy painted her,
She's lovely, she's divine.

She's all my fancy painted her,
She's lovely, she's divine.

Two meanings have our lightest fantasies,
One of the flesh, and of the spirit one.

Two meanings have our lightest fantasies,
One of the flesh, and of the spirit one.

When last the young Orlando parted from you,
He left a promise to return again
Within a read more

When last the young Orlando parted from you,
He left a promise to return again
Within a hour; and pacing through the forest,
Chewing the food of sweet and bitter fancy,
Lo, what befell!

Fancy light from Fancy caught.

Fancy light from Fancy caught.

The truant Fancy was a wanderer ever.

The truant Fancy was a wanderer ever.

While fancy, like the finger of a clock,
Runs the great circuit, and is still at home.

While fancy, like the finger of a clock,
Runs the great circuit, and is still at home.