Stops of Various Quills/Time

by William Dean Howells

TIME

O you wish me, then, away?
You should rather bid me stay:
Though I seem so dull and slow,
Think before you let me go!

Whether you entreat or spurn
I can nevermore return:
Times shall come, and times shall be,
But no other time like me.

Though I move with leaden feet,
Light itself is not so fleet;
And before you know me gone
Eternity and I are one.