Against Sloth: When the King Was at Oxford

Hence, vain attempter of the good and great; Be gone from our secure retreat, With all thy dull unwieldy train That clog and curb the active brain, Which else would, like a mettled steed, run o'er, Vast Nature's yet unnumber'd store; O'er flowery meads and painted fields, And all the pleasant scenes that beauteous Learning yields.

We're doubly arm'd against thy cheats and thee (Thy cheats which only find a place Among the ignorant and base) By Knowledge, and by Majesty. Thou constant guest of every popish cell, Which do'st with Monks and Hermits dwell, Must leave, with them, this sacred ground; Banish'd from King and court, at least for ten miles round.

She's gone; and now, methinks, an active fire Does all my willing veins inspire: My drowsy senses all anew Are waken'd by his powerful view. The glorious ruler of the morning, so, But looks on flowers, and straight they grow; And, when his beams their light unfold, Ripens the dullest earth, and warms it into gold.