THE WATER-MILL.
LISTEN to the water-mill through the livelong
How the clanking of the wheel wears the hours away.
Languidly the autumn wind stirs the greenwood leaves,
From the fields the reapers sing, binding up the sheaves.
And a proverb haunts my mind, like a spell is cast
"The mill will never grind with the water that has passed."
Take the lesson to thyself, loving heart and true;
Golden years are fleeting by youth is passing, too.
Learn to make the most of life, lose no happy day;
Time will never bring thee back chances swept away.
Power, intellect, and strength may not always last:
"The mill will never grind with the water that has passed."
Oh, the wasted hours of life, that have drifted by!
Oh, the good we might have done lost without a sigh!
Love that once we might have saved, with but a single word!
Thoughts conceived, but never penned, perishing unheard!
Take this proverb to thine heart, take and hold it fast:
"The mill will never grind with the water that has passed."