Speeding, still speeding on,
How, none can tell;
Soon he will bear us
To Heaven or Hell.
Dare not then waste thy days,
Reckless and proud;
Lest, while ye dream not,
Death spread thy shroud.
How swift the pinions Time puts on,
To urge his flight away!
To-day's soon yesterday; anon
To-morrow is to-day!
Thus days, and weeks, and months, and years,
Depart from mortal view;
As sadly, through this "Vale of Tears,"
Our journey we pursue!
Yet grieve not, man, that thus he flies,
He hastes thee to thy rest;
The drooping wretch that soonest dies,
Is soonest with the blest!
In the palace, in the cottage,
By the river, by the rill,
Time is ever marching onward,
Ever onward-onward still.
Never tiring, never resting,
Neither bending to our will;
Hastening on with even footstep,
Ever onward-onward still,
Secrets lost in dark oblivion,
Human tongue shall never tell; Time, their keeper, little heeding, Marches onward-onward still.
Dreams and echoes of the past,
Waken in us memory's thrill;
Showing, by their silent teaching,
Time is marching onward still.
THE flight of years-how soft, how fleet!
How like a winged angel's feet,
Departing from the starry throne,
On messages of love unknown!
A setting sun-a gleaming sail
Driving before the western gale,
Then lost where ocean's verge appears,
Are shadows of the flight of years.
The flight of years-ah, who can tell
Where the departed moments dwell?
Lost in what deep and boundless sea?
Sunk in what wide eternity?
For ever past, for ever gone?
No trace to fix a thought upon;
But mirth and grief, and hopes and fears,
Are swallowed in the flight of years.
The flight of years-how many an eye,
Weeps at the thought of years gone by!
Looks back upon the sad array-
The restless night-the anxious day;
Sees the loved form so pale, so chill,
And mourns its broken idol still!
While all below, that soothes or cheers,
Seems buried in the flight of years.
The flight of years-it bears along,
The mighty purpose of the strong,
Youth's thousand fond imaginings,
And manhood's ardent spiritings;
The sigh of love, the sigh of care,
The sad forebodings of despair,
And pride's approach, and slander's sneers,
Sink in the rapid flight of years.
The flight of years--'twill soon be o'er,
When the last pilgrim treads the shore;
When darkness broods across the sun,
And mercy's gracious work is done;
When heaven renewed, and earth restored,
Shout at the presence of their Lord;
Disease and death, and sin and tears,
Shall perish with the flight of years.
Ir you cannot on the ocean
Sail among the swiftest fleet,
Rocking on the highest billows,
Laughing at the storms you meet-
You can stand among the sailors,
Anchored yet within the bay;
You can lend a hand to help them,
When they launch their boats away.
If you are too weak to journey
Up the mountains steep and high,
You can stand within the valley
While the multitudes go by;
You can chant in happy measures,
As they slowly pass along;
Though they may forget the singer,
They will not forget the song.
If you have not gold and silver
Ever ready at command;
If you cannot, toward the needy,
Reach an ever open hand;
You can visit the afflicted,
O'er the erring you can weep;
You can be a true disciple,
Sitting at the Saviour's feet.
ACT IN THE PRESENT.
If you cannot, in the conflict,
Prove yourself a soldier true;
If, where the fire and smoke are thickest,
There's no work for you to do;
When the battle-field is silent,
You can go with careful tread,
You can bear away the wounded,
You can cover up the dead.
If you cannot in the harvest,
Garner up the richest sheaves;
Many a grain, both ripe and golden,
Which the careless reaper leaves,
You can glean among the briers
Growing rank against the wall,
For it may be that their shadow
Hides the heaviest wheat of all.
Do not, then, stand idly waiting
For some greater work to do;
Fortune is a lazy goddess,
She will never come to you.
Go and toil in any vineyard,
Do not fear to do or dare;
If you want a field of labour,
You can find it anywhere.
ACT IN THE PRESENT.
HEART gazing mournfully
Back through past years,
Bringing sad memories,
Laden with tears-
Life's hours wasted,
Talents abused,
Bright opportunities
Blindly refused-
Close up the record
Fraught with such pain;
Years that have vanished
Return not again.
Grasp thou the Present,
Be earnest and bold
Fleeting its moments,
More precious than gold.
Watch and fight bravely
Against sloth and sin;
Pray for the spirit,
The victory to win.
Cometh the Future
Veiled and slow?
Go forth to meet her,
For weal or for woe.
Bringeth she gladness?
Praise thou the Lord.
Bringeth she sadness?
Bow to His word.
O'er Past and o'er Future
Dim shadows recline,
Heart, be thou manful,
The Present is thine!
KEEP pushing-'tis wiser
Than sitting aside,
And dreaming and sighing
And waiting the tide.
In life's earnest battle
They only prevail
Who daily march onward
And never say fail!
With an eye ever open,
A tongue that's not dumb,
And a heart that will never
To sorrow succumb-
You'll battle and conquer
Though thousands assail;
How strong and how mighty!
Who never say fail!
The spirit of angels
Is active, I know,
As higher and higher
In glory they go;
Methinks on bright pinions
From Heaven they sail,
To cheer and encourage
Who never say fail!
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