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!