[Page 29]

SONG XX.

Against Idleness and Mischief.

I.
1 HOW doth the little busy Bee
2 Improve each shining Hour,
3 And gather Honey all the Day
4 From ev'ry op'ning Flow'r?
II.
5 How skilfully she builds her Cell!
6 How neat she spreads the Wax!
7 And labours hard to store it well
8 With the sweet Food she makes.
III.
9 In Works of Labour or of Skill,
10 I would be busy too;
11 For Satan finds some Mischief still
12 For idle Hands to do.
IV.
13 In Books, or Work, or healthful Play,
14 Let my first Years be past,
15 That I may give for ev'ry Day
16 Some good Account at last.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): SONG XX. Against Idleness and Mischief.
Author: Isaac Watts
Themes:
Genres: song

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Source edition

Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748. Divine songs: attempted in easy language for the use of children. By I. Watts, D.D. London: Printed for J. Buckland; J. F. and C. Rivington; T. Longman; W. Fenner; T. Field; and E. and C. Dilly, 1777, p. 29. xii,58,[2]p.; 12⁰. (ESTC T185045; OTA K123515.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Vet. A5 f.3516].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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