On Time

1Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,

2Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,

3Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;

4And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,

5Which is no more then what is false and vain,

6And meerly mortal dross;

7So little is our loss,

8So little is thy gain.

9For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd,

10And last of all, thy greedy self consum'd,

11Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss

12With an individual kiss;

13And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,

14When every thing that is sincerely good

15And perfectly divine,

16With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine

17About the supreme Throne

18Of him, t'whose happy-making sight alone,

19When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime,

20Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,

21Attir'd with Stars, we shall for ever sit,

22Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.