Make Haste, O Man, to Live

Make haste

O man

to live

For thou so soon must die;

Time hur­ries past thee like the breeze;

How swift its mo­ments fly!

To breathe

and wake

and sleep

To smile

to sigh

to grieve;

To move in idle­ness through earth

This

this is not to live!

Make haste

O man

to do

Whatever must be done;

Thou hast no time to lose in sloth

Thy day will soon be gone.

Up

then

with speed

and work;

Fling ease and self away;

This is no time for thee to sleep

Up

watch

and work

and pray!

The useful

not the great

The thing that nev­er dies

The si­lent toil that is not lost—

Set these be­fore thine eyes.

The seed

whose leaf and flow­er

Though poor in hu­man sight

Bring forth at last th’eter­nal fruit

Sow thou by day and night.

Make haste

O man

to live

Thy time is al­most o’er;

O sleep not

dream not

but arise

The Judge is at the door!