A Comparison.
18th Century William Cowper EnglishA COMPARISON.
THE lapse of time and rivers is the same, Both speed their journey with a restless stream, The silent pace with which they steal away, No wealth can bribe, no pray'rs persuade to stay, Alike irrevocable both when past, And a wide ocean swallows both at last. Though each resemble each in ev'ry part, A difference strikes at length the musing heart; Streams never flow in vain; where streams abound, How laughs the land with various plenty crown'd! But time that should enrich the nobler mind, Neglected, leaves a dreary waste behind.