LABOUR.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.—Matthew, xi. 28.
The labourer is worthy of his hire.—Luke, x. 7.
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.—Ephesians, iv. 28.
Inventive Labour! cunning to deceive
Thyself, and skilful to no end but this,
Still to be doing, never to achieve—
What profitest?—though all, to such excess,
Man cannot utter it, be full of thee—
The eye unsatisfied, the ear no less—
Sore travail, and the vainest vanity
Ordained to exercise the sons of men—
Who getteth wisdom, where thy trials be?
J. A. Heraud.
Labour, with envy and annoyance, where strangers will thee wealth;
Labour, with indolence and gloom, where wealth falleth from a father;
Labour unto all, whether aching thews, or aching head, or spirit;
The curse on the sons of men, in all their states, is labour.
Nevertheless, to the diligent, labour bringeth blessing;
The thought of duty sweeteneth toil, and travail is a pleasure;
And time spent in doing, hath a comfort that is not for the idle,
The hardship is transmuted into joy by the dear alchemy of mercy.
Labour is good for man, bracing up his energies to conquest,
And without it life is dull, the man perceiving himself useless.
For wearily the body groaneth, like a door on rusty hinges,
And the grasp of the mind is weakened, as the talons of a caged vulture.
M. F. Tupper.