William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. (1878–1962). Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1920.

The Worker

BE quiet, worker in my breast:

You hurt me, pounding so!

Day and night your hammer rings.

What you build, I do not know.

I am tired by your effort.

I would like to be as still

As the solitary sheep

Scattered on the sunny hill.

Stop your mad, insistent beating!

Be less eager and more wise!

You are building nothing lasting.

Let me rest and close my eyes.

Harper’s Magazine