THERE is no remedy for time misspent; No healing for the waste of idleness Whose very languor is a punishment Heavier than active souls can feel or guess . O hours of indolence and discontent, Not now to be redeemed! ye sting not less Because I know this span of life was lent For lofty duties, not for selfishness . Not to be wiled away in aimless dreams, But to improve ourselves, and serve mankind, Life, and its choicest faculties were given. Man should be ever better than he seems: And shape his acts, and discipline his mind, To walk adorning earth, with hope of heaven. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE AT NEWPORT by EMMA LAZARUS ROBERT BROWNING by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR ON AN OLD MUFF by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON MOTHER'S WORLD by MARGARET H. ALDEN PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 55. ALLAH-AL-MATEEN by EDWIN ARNOLD SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 48 by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |