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1762–1850

THE OLD LABOURER.

William Lisle Bowles

Are you not tired, you poor old man! The drops are on your brow; Your labour with the sun began, And you are labouring now!

I murmur not to dig the soil, For I have heard it read, That man by industry and toil Must eat his daily bread.

The lark awakes me with his song, That hails the morning gray, And when I mourn for human wrong, I think of God, and pray.

Let worldlings waste their time and health, And try each vain delight; They cannot buy, with all their wealth, The labourer's rest at night.

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THE OLD LABOURER. · William Lisle Bowles · Poetry Cove