One summer day, I stood beside a sundial;—tombs around Told of past generations, dead and gone, Returned unto the dust from whence they rose: The village church was open,—from within Arose the sound of earnest, prayerful voices: A babe was being christened,—a new soul Admitted to community with Christ. And, as I stood with bended head, and thoughts Dwelling upon the future of that child— Whether the good or evil should exceed— Whether the death, which even then advanced, With slow but certain tread, to stop his course At his fore - destined goal, should find him one Of the Great King's chosen, or of Mammon's slaves,— My eyes fell on the dial; it was May; The sun was shining brightly, and a line, Slight and attenuate, was all that marked The passing hour,—but that attenuate line Could not have been bestrid or overleaped By the hugest giant fable tells us of. This feeble line was all the boundary Betwixt the two eternities,—the Past And Future;—'twas the fleeting present time. O ye poor fools!—who say, "Live in the present," Go, take a lesson from the village-dial. Learn wisdom, if ye can; learn that the minds Of such as are content with living @3now@1 Are narrow, scopeless as that little line, Within whose scanty boundaries they vibrate Like a clock's pendulum, ever to and fro, Without advancing even one little step Beyond the aimless present. Was the soul Debased to fleshly garments, that it should Demean itself still further, and lie down, And check its aspirations, for the Clod's Requirements?—Flesh cares nought for future things. Food, raiment, sleep, are all it asks, and gold Wherewith to purchase these;—@3it@1 cannot pass The mystic line, and souls that might be great, But will not, bind themselves to earth, until They merge with it and lose their Heaven-wings! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FOUR BROTHERS by CARL SANDBURG AN EPITAPH, INTENDED FOR HIMSELF by JAMES BEATTIE THE LITANY [TO THE HOLY SPIRIT] by ROBERT HERRICK THE FEMALE CONVICT by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE ROSARY by ROBERT CAMERON ROGERS |