ART thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers?
O sweet content!
Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplex’d?
O punishment!
Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vex’d
To add to golden numbers golden numbers?
O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content!
Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
Honest labour bears a lovely face;
Then hey nonny nonny—hey nonny nonny!
Thomas Dekker
Workers may or may not have enough to eat, but at least they can get a good night’s sleep. The rich, however, have so much that they stay awake worrying.
Ecclesiastes 5:12
Mr. Dekker had to borrow from the Bible? Sure, why not? Even Bill Shakespeare did that. As long as he makes it rhyme he’s done his job. There’s a second stanza to this thing that will show up tonight. Philosophically the boss and the workers both have a job to do. The trick is to find enough common ground to make the arrangement work for both sides.