William Blake (1757–1827). The Poetical Works. 1908.
Songs from An Island in The MoonX. To be or not to be
T
Of great capacity,
Like Sir Isaac Newton,
Or Locke, or Doctor South,
Or Sherlock upon Death—
I’d rather be Sutton!
For agèd men and youth,
With walls of brick and stone;
He furnish’d it within
With whatever he could win,
And all his own.
His money in a box,
And sent his servant
To Green the Bricklayer,
And to the Carpenter;
He was so fervent.
The windows many more;
And, for convenience,
He sinks and gutters made,
And all the way he pav’d
To hinder pestilence.
Whose life was but a span,
Whose name was Sutton—
As Locke, or Doctor South,
Or Sherlock upon Death,
Or Sir Isaac Newton?