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Sonnet IX.

Topics: classic

Oh to be idle loving idleness!     But I am idle all in hate of me;     Ever in action's dream, in the false stress     Of purposed action never set to be.     Like a fierce beast self-penned in a bait-lair,     My will to act binds with excess my action,     Not-acting coils the thought with raged despair,     And acting rage doth paint despair distraction.     Like someone sinking in a treacherous sand,     Each gesture to deliver sinks the more;     The struggle avails not, and to raise no hand,     Though but more slowly useless, we've no power.         Hence live I the dead life each day doth bring,         Repurposed for next day's repurposing.

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"Oh to be idle loving idleness!..."

"Sonnet IX." is a quintessential example of Fernando Antnio Nogueira Pessoa's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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