"Long, as to him who works for debt, the Day; / Long as the Night to her whose love's away; / Long as the Year's dull circle seems to run, / When the brisk Minor pants for twenty-one; / So slow th' unprofitable Moments roll, / That lock up all the Functions of my soul; / That keep me from Myself; and still delay / Life's instant business to a future day."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Date
w. 1737, published 1738
Metaphor
"Long, as to him who works for debt, the Day; / Long as the Night to her whose love's away; / Long as the Year's dull circle seems to run, / When the brisk Minor pants for twenty-one; / So slow th' unprofitable Moments roll, / That lock up all the Functions of my soul; / That keep me from Myself; and still delay / Life's instant business to a future day."
Metaphor in Context
Long, as to him who works for debt, the Day;
Long as the Night to her whose love's away;
Long as the Year's dull circle seems to run,
When the brisk Minor pants for twenty-one;
So slow th' unprofitable Moments roll,
That lock up all the Functions of my soul;
That keep me from Myself; and still delay
Life's instant business to a future day:
That task, which as we follow, or despise,
The eldest is a fool, the youngest wise;
Which done, the poorest can no wants endure,
And which not done, the richest must be poor.
(p. 626, ll. 35-46)
Long as the Night to her whose love's away;
Long as the Year's dull circle seems to run,
When the brisk Minor pants for twenty-one;
So slow th' unprofitable Moments roll,
That lock up all the Functions of my soul;
That keep me from Myself; and still delay
Life's instant business to a future day:
That task, which as we follow, or despise,
The eldest is a fool, the youngest wise;
Which done, the poorest can no wants endure,
And which not done, the richest must be poor.
(p. 626, ll. 35-46)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
See The Poems of Alexander Pope, ed. John Butt (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963), 624-34.
Date of Entry
02/01/2012
