Journey by Steve Shanks
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24"x30" on gallery wrapped stretched canvas

HOW heavy do I journey on the way  

When what I seek, my weary travel's end,  

Doth teach that ease and that repose to say,  

'Thus far the miles are measur'd from thy friend!'  

The beast that bears me, tired with my woe,          5

Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me,  

As if by some instinct the wretch did know  

His rider lov'd not speed, being made from thee:  

The bloody spur cannot provoke him on  

That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,   10

Which heavily he answers with a groan  

More sharp to me than spurring to his side;  

  For that same groan doth put this in my mind:  

  My grief lies onward, and my joy behind.  


William Shakespeare (15641616).  The Oxford Shakespeare: Poems.  1914.

Sonnet L.

"How heavy do I journey on the way"
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