Shakespeare's Sonnet 28

How can I then return in happy plight,That am debarre’d the benefit of rest?When day’s oppression is not eas’d by night,But day by night and night by day oppress’d,And each, though enemies to either’s reign,Do in consent shake hands to torture me,The one by toil, the other to complainHow far I toil, still farther off from thee.I tell the day, to please him thou art bright,And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven:So flatter I the swart-complexion’d night,When sparkling stars twire not thou gild’st the even.But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,And night doth nightly make grief’s length seem stronger.

How, then, can I return in good spirits when I am denied the benefit of rest? Night does not relieve the burden of day. Instead, night makes day harder, and day makes night harder. Though each is an enemy of the other's rule, they join hands in agreement to torture me. One wears me down with work; the other makes me mourn how far I travel, still farther away from you. To please the day, I tell him you are bright and lend him beauty when clouds blot out the sky. In the same way, I flatter the dark-faced night: when sparkling stars do not twinkle, you make the evening golden. But every day stretches out my sorrows, and every night makes that long grief feel stronger.