 | Terrible tractoration, and other poems |  |
218
THE SLEEP OF THE SLUGGARD.
O list to an indolent lump of live lumber,
Whom slothfulness binds with invisible bands,
A little more sleep, and a little more slumber,
A little more folding together the hands.
Whom slothfulness binds with invisible bands,
A little more sleep, and a little more slumber,
A little more folding together the hands.
“I 've a villainous cold—and my head, how it aches!
The north wind is blowing, and stings like a hornet,
And as to this rising as soon as day breaks,
'T is a vile vulgar habit, and gentlemen scorn it.
The north wind is blowing, and stings like a hornet,
And as to this rising as soon as day breaks,
'T is a vile vulgar habit, and gentlemen scorn it.
“I'm none of those wretches, who labor for bread
Through foul or fair weather, whatever may hap,
I mean to enjoy both my table and bed,
So let me turn over and take t'other nap.
Through foul or fair weather, whatever may hap,
I mean to enjoy both my table and bed,
So let me turn over and take t'other nap.
“I 've money enough, and can live at my ease,
I cannot be caught in necessity's trap,
Will sleep every day till the next, if I please,
And so will indulge in another good nap.”
I cannot be caught in necessity's trap,
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And so will indulge in another good nap.”
His heavy hydropical carcase he turns,
And sinks in uneasy intemperate rest,
Till dim in his bosom the lamp of life burns,
While snorting with nightmare and plethora prest.
And sinks in uneasy intemperate rest,
Till dim in his bosom the lamp of life burns,
While snorting with nightmare and plethora prest.
What horrible visions his bed hover o'er,
The phantoms of spleen, the blue devils dire,
Like Gorgons and Hydras of fabulous lore,
Or red dragons belching whole rivers of fire.
The phantoms of spleen, the blue devils dire,
Like Gorgons and Hydras of fabulous lore,
Or red dragons belching whole rivers of fire.
Now clings to the side of a prominent steep,
O'er a rough, roaring cataract hangs by a hair,
Now suddenly sinks in a bottomless deep,
And starts, half awake with a shriek of despair!
O'er a rough, roaring cataract hangs by a hair,
Now suddenly sinks in a bottomless deep,
And starts, half awake with a shriek of despair!
Thus rolls like a porpoise o'er billows of down,
Grows big as a mammoth, and fat as a seal,
Lives a plague to his friends, or a charge to the town,
And dies to make worms a most plentiful meal.
Grows big as a mammoth, and fat as a seal,
Lives a plague to his friends, or a charge to the town,
And dies to make worms a most plentiful meal.
Ye sons of Columbia, shun the syren of sloth
For if you submit to her leaden control,
You will find, when too late, like a venomous moth,
She consumes a man's substance and poisons his soul.
For if you submit to her leaden control,
You will find, when too late, like a venomous moth,
She consumes a man's substance and poisons his soul.
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If the wizard of indolence takes you in hand,
Quick break from his grasp, or you're quickly undone,
Your limbs will be lithe as a wickapy wand,
And your sinews be soften'd like wax in the sun.
Quick break from his grasp, or you're quickly undone,
Your limbs will be lithe as a wickapy wand,
And your sinews be soften'd like wax in the sun.
| Terrible tractoration, and other poems | |