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Read & copy
“Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, Makes that and th’ action fine.”
Meaning & context
Herbert’s devotional speaker argues that ordinary work can acquire spiritual value when it is performed conscientiously for a religious purpose rather than for status.
Source details
“The Elixir,” in The Temple, published in 1633. The stanza is explicitly Christian devotional poetry about motive, work and service; it should not be flattened into secular evidence about job performance.