Sonnet 28

by William Shakespeare · (no date)
Published 01/07/1880

How can I then return in happy plight,

That am debarr'd the benefit of rest?

When day's oppression is not eas'd by night,

But day by night, and night by day oppress'd,

And each, though enemies to either's reign,

Do in consent shake hands to torture me,

The one by toil, the other to complain

How far I toil, still further off from thee.

I tell the day, to please him, thou art bright

And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven:

So flatter I the swart-complexion'd night,

When sparkling stars twire not thou gild'st the even.

      But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,

      And night doth nightly make grief's strength seem stronger.

#existential angst #longing #toil #william shakespeare

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