Only one little minute,
How soon 'tis passed away!
We do not seem to miss it
As it goes on its way;
But every little minute
On sixty wings has flown,
And soon the tiny minutes
To hours and days have grown.
Oh, let us then redeem them,
For though so small are they,
The minutes make the hours,
The hours make the day.
How soon the days fly past us,
And months and years go by!
Like sunny days of childhood,
Like birds on wing they fly.
They're gone. Now youth succeeds them;
Then manhood and old age.
How great the sum of minutes
Recorded on life's page!
When gone, none may recall them
Nor bring them back again;
Some lie long since forgotten,
While others like a stain
Leave on the page of mem'ry
A dark and loathsome spot
Which cannot be erased
Nor ever be forgot.
These moments spent so idly,
These hours we've let slip by,
All bear us quickly onward—
On to eternity!
'Tis there again we'll meet them
In heaven's record kept:
Some gone before to judgment
If they have been misspent.
If spent in sin they'll meet us
At heaven's great assize,
To witness to our folly—
The TIME we lightly prize.