The lapse of time and rivers is the same, <br />Both speed their journey with a restless stream; <br />The silent pace, with which they steal away, <br />No wealth can bribe, no prayers persuade to stay; <br />Alike irrevocable both when past, <br />And a wide ocean swallows both at last. <br />Though each resemble each in every part, <br />A difference strikes at length the musing heart; <br />Streams never flow in vain; where streams abound, <br />How laughs the land with various plenty crown’d! <br />But time, that should enrich the nobler mind, <br />Neglected, leaves a dreary waste behind.<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-comparison-3/
