How long wilt thou sleep, O Sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

"Yet a little sleep,

A little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep
So shall thy poverty come as a robber,
And thy want as an armed man!

Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly,

On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.

2

There be six things which the LORD hateth, Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him:

Haughty eyes,

A lying tongue,

And hands that shed innocent blood;

An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
Feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that uttereth lies ;
And he that Soweth Discord among brethren.

xvi

Adultery the Supreme Folly

A Sonnet

My son, keep the commandment of thy father,
And forsake not the law of thy mother:
Bind them continually upon thine heart,
Tie them about thy neck.

When thou walkest, it shall lead thee;

When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee;
And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

For the commandment is a lamp;

And the law is light;

And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

To keep thee from the evil woman,
From the flattery of the stranger's tongue.

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart;

Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

For on account of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread:

And the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.

Can a man take fire in his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?

Or can one walk upon hot coals,
And his feet not be scorched?

So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife;
Whosoever toucheth her shall not be unpunished.

Men do not despise a thief, if he steal
To satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold;
He shall give all the substance of his house.

He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of

understanding;

He doeth it that would destroy his own soul.

Wounds and dishonour shall he get;
And his reproach shall not be wiped away.

For jealousy is the rage of a man;

And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He will not regard any ransom;

Neither will he be content, though thou givest many gifts.

xvii

Wisdom and the Strange Woman

A Double Monologue

My son, keep my words,

I

And lay up my commandments with thee.

Keep my commandments, and live;

And my law, as the apple of thine eye.

Bind them upon thy fingers;

Write them upon the table of thine heart.

Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister;

And call Understanding thy kinswoman.

That they may keep thee from the Strange Woman, From the stranger which flattereth with her words.

For at the window of my house

I looked forth through my lattice;
And I beheld among the simple ones,
I discerned among the youths,

A young man,

Void of understanding,

Passing through the street near her corner,
And he went the way to her house;

In the twilight, in the evening of the day,
In the blackness of night and the darkness;
And behold, there met him a Woman

With the attire of an harlot, and wily of heart.

She is clamorous and wilful;

Her feet abide not in her house;

Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,
And lieth in wait at every corner.

So she caught him, and kissed him,

With an impudent face she said unto him: