The Hour Glass
March 05, 2009 | Comments: 4Alas! How swift the moments fly!
How flash the years along!
Scarce here, yet gone already by,
The burden of a song.
See childhood, youth, and manhood pass,
And age, with furrowed brow; rime was -
Time shall be-drain the glass
But where in Time is now?
Time is the measure but of change;
No present hour is found;
The past, the future, fill the range
Of Time’s unceasing round.
Where, then, is now?
In realms above,
With God’s atoning Lamb,
In regions of eternal love,
Where sits enthroned I AM.
Then, pilgrim, let thy joys and tears
On Time no longer lean;
But henceforth all thy hopes and fears
From earth’s affections wean:
To God let votive accents rise;
With truth, with virtue, live;
So all the bliss that Time denies
Eternity shall give.
~ John Quincy Adams, 1767-1848, 6th President of the United States
Comments
For more of John Quincy Adams’ poetry, visit here
Andrew on March 05, 2009 at 06:59 PM
Andrew, what a great poem. Sometimes the longing for home takes a hold of me in such a way it is like a wave. Heaven and its joys await me. Thanks for reminding me again where my hope lies…
Chris Taylor on August 07, 2009 at 06:17 PM
Great poem. BTW, the Hebrew at the top is spelled incorrectly. The last letter (on the left hand side) should be a final mem, while the one you have there now is a regular mem. At the end of Hebrew words, whenever there is a final form for the letter, you use that instead of the regular form.
Rabbi Daniel Swartz on May 14, 2010 at 06:23 AM
Thank you, Rabbi Swartz. I knew about final mem, but forgot about it when putting this site together. I have corrected the title.
Andrew on January 02, 2011 at 12:38 PM
