A memorable fancy

As I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the

enjoyments of Genius, which to Angels look like torment and

insanity, I collected some of their Proverbs; thinking that as the

sayings used in a nation mark its character, so the Proverbs of Hell

show the nature of Infernal wisdom better than any description of

buildings or garments.

When I came home, on the abyss of the five senses, where a flat-sided

steep frowns over the present world, I saw a mighty Devil, folded in

black clouds, hovering on the sides of the rock: with corroding fires

he wrote the following sentence now perceived by the minds of men, and

read by them on earth: --

How do you know but ev'ry Bird that cuts the airy way,

Is an immense World of Delight, clos'd by your senses five?