Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Poem
May 13, 1785
Fowle's New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
A meditative poem on the inexorable power of Time, which devours all human endeavors, empires, wars, and even poetry, leading to ultimate oblivion and mortality.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
TIME! till urging to eternity,
In thy deep womb the world's vast actions lie-
My hours till whirl us on in full career,
Day following day, and year succeeding year;
Old moments ending as the new ones rise
For thy first child, Succession, never dies;
But all things human own thy sov'reign pow'r
Just live and die--a thousand in an hour.
Kings, empires, thrones and nations fade away,
And others still succeed as they decay;
Fair peace and horrid war still rule by turns,
With love and rage the world, alternate, burns;
And thus the same rotation shall be seen,
Till consummation shuts the earthly scene!
What then avails t'invoke the sacred Nine,
Or humbly bend us at the Muse's shrine,
When we, together with our loftiest rhyme
Shrink to oblivion, at one blast of Time.
In thy deep womb the world's vast actions lie-
My hours till whirl us on in full career,
Day following day, and year succeeding year;
Old moments ending as the new ones rise
For thy first child, Succession, never dies;
But all things human own thy sov'reign pow'r
Just live and die--a thousand in an hour.
Kings, empires, thrones and nations fade away,
And others still succeed as they decay;
Fair peace and horrid war still rule by turns,
With love and rage the world, alternate, burns;
And thus the same rotation shall be seen,
Till consummation shuts the earthly scene!
What then avails t'invoke the sacred Nine,
Or humbly bend us at the Muse's shrine,
When we, together with our loftiest rhyme
Shrink to oblivion, at one blast of Time.
What sub-type of article is it?
Ode
What themes does it cover?
Death Mourning
What keywords are associated?
Time
Mortality
Oblivion
Empires
Succession
Poetry
Poem Details
Form / Style
Rhymed Couplets
Key Lines
Time! Till Urging To Eternity,
But All Things Human Own Thy Sov'reign Pow'r
Just Live And Die A Thousand In An Hour.
Shrink To Oblivion, At One Blast Of Time.