Lessons Of Time For Eternity Poem by John Bowring

Man is not left untold, untaught,
Untrained by Heav'n to heavenly things;
No! ev'ry fleeting hour has brought
Lessons of wisdom on its wings;
And ev'ry day bids solemn thought
Soar above earth's imaginings.


In life, in death, a voice is heard,
Speaking in Heaven's own eloquence,
That calls on purposes deferred,
On wand'ring thought, on wildering sense,
And bids reflection, long interred,
Arouse from its indifference.


The present, future, and the past,
It offers to our thoughtless eye;
That present is too short to last-
That past is gone for ever by;
That future comes-a stormy blast
That sweeps us to eternity.