When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”Sonnet 19 in Poems (1673), John Milton
2 Replies to “{thursday thought}”
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GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh. I see you, Milton~and lump you with that other irritating sod Rilke~who minced about saying we ought to *live* into the answers.
No one even knows what it means, and yet we keep quoting it. Hah.