Classic Poem

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