| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. Craving for Leisure | | By Charles Lamb (1775–1834) |
| | | THEY talk of Time, and of Time’s galling yoke, | |
| That like a millstone on man’s mind doth press, | |
| Which only works and business can redress; | |
| Of divine Leisure such foul lies are spoke, | |
| Wounding her fair gifts with calumnious stroke. | 5 |
| But might I, fed with silent meditation, | |
| Assoiléd live from that fiend Occupation— | |
| Improbus Labor, which my spirits hath broke— | |
| I ’d drink of time’s rich cup, and never surfeit; | |
| Fling in more days than went to make the gem | 10 |
| That crowned the white top of Methusalem; | |
| Yea, on my weak neck take, and never forfeit, | |
| Like Atlas bearing up the dainty sky, | |
| The heaven-sweet burden of eternity. | | | | |
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