Representative Poetry Online
  Poet Index Poem Index Random Search
  Introduction Timeline Calendar Glossary Criticism Bibliography
  RPO Canadian Poetry UTEL
by Name
by Date
by Title
by First Line
by Last Line
Poet
Poem
Short poem
Keyword
Concordance

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Against Idleness and Mischief


              1How doth the little busy Bee
              2    Improve each shining Hour,
              3And gather Honey all the day
              4    From every opening Flower!

              5How skilfully she builds her Cell!
              6    How neat she spreads the Wax!
              7And labours hard to store it well
              8    With the sweet Food she makes.

              9In Works of Labour or of Skill
            10    I would be busy too:
            11For Satan finds some Mischief still
            12    For idle Hands to do.

            13In Books, or Work, or healthful Play
            14    Let my first Years be past,
            15That I may give for every Day
            16    Some good Account at last.

Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: I. Watts, Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of CHILDREN (London: M. Lawrence, 1715), p. 29. See facsimile reproduction, with introduction by J. H. P. Pafford (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), p.177. PR 3763 W37 A65 1971 Robarts Library.
First publication date: 1715
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 2:2002/3/6

Rhyme: abab

Other poems by Isaac Watts

Your comments and questions are welcomed.
All contents copyright © Ian Lancashire (Department of English) and the University of Toronto
RPO is hosted by the University of Toronto Libraries.