 | The Poetical Works of Eliza Cook |  |
451
“EARLY TO BED AND EARLY TO RISE.”
“Early to bed and early to rise,”
Ay! note it down in your brain,
For it helpeth to make the foolish wise,
And uproots the weeds of pain.
Ay! note it down in your brain,
For it helpeth to make the foolish wise,
And uproots the weeds of pain.
Ye who are walking on thorns of care,
Who sigh for a softer bower;
Try what can be done in the morning sun,
And make use of the early hour.
Who sigh for a softer bower;
Try what can be done in the morning sun,
And make use of the early hour.
Full many a day for ever is lost,
By delaying its work till to-morrow;
The minutes of sloth have often cost
Long years of bootless sorrow.
By delaying its work till to-morrow;
The minutes of sloth have often cost
Long years of bootless sorrow.
And ye who would win the lasting wealth
Of content and peaceful power;
Ye who would couple Labour and Health,
Must begin at the early hour.
Of content and peaceful power;
Ye who would couple Labour and Health,
Must begin at the early hour.
We make bold promises to Time,
Yet, alas! too often break them;
We mock at the wings of the King of kings,
And think we can overtake them.
Yet, alas! too often break them;
We mock at the wings of the King of kings,
And think we can overtake them.
But why loiter away the prime of the day,
Knowing that clouds may lower;
Is it not safer to make Life's hay
In the beam of the early hour?
Knowing that clouds may lower;
Is it not safer to make Life's hay
In the beam of the early hour?
Nature herself e'er shows her best
Of gems to the gaze of the lark,
When the spangles of light on earth's, green breast
Put out the stars of the dark.
Of gems to the gaze of the lark,
When the spangles of light on earth's, green breast
Put out the stars of the dark.
If we love the purest pearl of the dew,
And the richest breath of the flower,
If our spirits would greet the fresh and the sweet,
Go forth in the early hour.
And the richest breath of the flower,
If our spirits would greet the fresh and the sweet,
Go forth in the early hour.
Oh! pleasure and rest are more easily found
When we start through Morning's gate,
To sum up our figures or plough up our ground,
And weave out the threads of Fate.
When we start through Morning's gate,
To sum up our figures or plough up our ground,
And weave out the threads of Fate.
452
The eye looketh bright and the heart keepeth light,
And Man holdeth the conqueror's power,
When ready and brave, he chains Time as his slave,
By the help of the early hour.
And Man holdeth the conqueror's power,
When ready and brave, he chains Time as his slave,
By the help of the early hour.
| The Poetical Works of Eliza Cook | |