Sleeping is an evil, but a necessary one
A pleasure in performance, but an evil all the same;
It takes away the time for other pleasures to be done,
And counterfeits a virtue under an assuméd name.
For sleep and rest are far apart, yet sleep would claim the title
Of being rest - a virtue sure, and wonderful to feel -
And under color of that name would seem to be both vital
And virtuous, and therefore by pretended good would steal
Into our lives at evéry occasion that it can.
I do not mean we should not sleep; I do not wish to die,
And as Macbeth found, sleep will help the better part of man,
But still I see how much I sleep and have to wonder why
For when I sleep, even with you, unconsciousness will bar
Me from my rest since it prevents me knowing how you are.
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