Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HAVE YE NO WORK FOR A MAN TO DO by HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Poet Analysis

Last Line: By making it sublime?
Subject(s): HELL; LABOR & LABORERS;
Have ye no work for a man to do''"
No earnest work that will expand the frame,
And give a soundness to the muscles too?
How ye do waste your time!
5
Pray make it worth the while to live,
Or worth the while to die.
Show us great actions piled on high,
Tasking our utmost strength touching the sky,
As if we lived in a mountainous country.
10
''a''aHell were not quite so hard to bear
''aIf one were honored with its hottest place.
And did ye fear ye should spoil Hell
By making it sublime?



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