How Long?

HOW long wilt thou in childhood’s slumber lie?

Know that youth flies like chaff the wind before.

Can spring forever last? Nay, soon draws nigh

Old age’s messenger with tresses hoar.

Shake thyself free from sin, as ere they fly,

The birds shake of the night-dews’ pearled store.

Cast off temptations that thy peace defy,

Like troubled waves upon a rocky shore,

And follow after that pure company

Of souls that seek God’s goodness evermore.