Divested of their coats, with flail in hand, At proper distance, front to front they stand; And first, the thrashel's gentle swing to prove, Whether with just exactness it will move

to test the soundness of a principle

Basically, my back is a career-ending injury. . . . It might seem like a Faustian bargain, but Ho is making the best of his borrowed time.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies…, London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]: