Excerpt from Verses

The Pleasures of Life

Book I

As flows the river of my life away,
The thought comes sadly o'er me, that I may
Recover not from the eternal sea
Wherein past years are lost, and whither flee
These present moments swiftly, what was mine
Once of that common heritage divine
Time unto man has given - oft valued not.
Or esteemed lightly as a boon forgot.
Blest Opportunity! how swift, alas,
Returning not, thy laden moments pass,
Thy messenger is Wisdom, speaking plain:
"Winnow the chaff, and take the golden grain."
But I am conscious of the work undone,
The good unrealised of days now gone,
The fruit ungathered and the withered flower,
In the clear retrospect of memory's hour.
Such quiet thoughts leave to the humbled mind
No pride in its own wisdom, for behind
How much of Time's short span no more our own,

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