William Cowper ( 10 of 184 )
Defend me, therefore, common sense, say
From reveries so airy, from the toil
Of dropping buckets into read more
Defend me, therefore, common sense, say
From reveries so airy, from the toil
Of dropping buckets into empty wells,
And growing old in drawing nothing up.
An idler is a watch that wants both hands;
As useless if it goes as when it stands.
An idler is a watch that wants both hands;
As useless if it goes as when it stands.
Absence from whom we love is worse than death.
Absence from whom we love is worse than death.
The sinews of affairs are cut.
The sinews of affairs are cut.
How various his employments whom the world
Calls idle; and who justly in return
Esteems that busy read more
How various his employments whom the world
Calls idle; and who justly in return
Esteems that busy world an idler too!
The priest he merry is, and blithe
Three-quarters of a year,
But oh! it cuts him like read more
The priest he merry is, and blithe
Three-quarters of a year,
But oh! it cuts him like a scythe
When tithing time draws near.
An epigram is but a feeble thing - With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting
An epigram is but a feeble thing - With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting
The things that mount the rostrum with a skip,
And then skip down again, pronounce a text,
read more
The things that mount the rostrum with a skip,
And then skip down again, pronounce a text,
Cry hem; and reading what they never wrote
Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work,
And with a well-bred whisper close the scene!
'Twere better to be born a stone
Of ruder shape, and feeling none,
Than with a tenderness read more
'Twere better to be born a stone
Of ruder shape, and feeling none,
Than with a tenderness like mine
And sensibilities so fine!
Ah, hapless wretch! condemn'd to dwell
Forever in my native shell,
Ordained to move when others please,
Not for my own content or ease;
But toss'd and buffeted about,
Now in the water and now out.
But many a crime deemed innocent on earth
Is registered in Heaven; and these no doubt
Have read more
But many a crime deemed innocent on earth
Is registered in Heaven; and these no doubt
Have each their record, with a curse annex'd.
