Increase thy knowledge, ample store I keep on dial mine; Nor ever reckon cheap or poor The rudiments of time. [Illustration: SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY. ] Shifty as the wind is life, The lot of everyone, Swayed by pleasure, work, and strife; How opposite the sun! [Illustration: SUNDIAL OVER A SHOP AT LEIGHTON BUZZARD, BEDFORDSHIRE. ] Each shining ray of light you see, Is an emblem of eternity, For every ray that cheers our eyes. Descends to earth from far-off skies. [Illustration: SUNDIAL, EARLY 17th CENTURY. ] He gave thee life and takes the same, And He shall give thee life again; Then argue not what form ’twill be, But be content, He gives it thee. [Illustration: SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY. ] Who knows the value of to-morrow ’Til it is yesterday? Or who true comfort in some sorrow, ’Til it has passed away? [Illustration: SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY. ] As the stream is to the river, And the river to the sea, Days and months flow on for ever, As parts of eternity. [Illustration: SUNDIAL ON MOOT HALL, ALDEBURGH. ] Have you no question to ask? Have you no lesson to learn? Traveller, what of your task? Halt not a moment or turn. [Illustration: SUNDIAL AT DALSTON, CUMBERLAND. ] Man may make a dial of stone, And fashion it with care, But if the sun refuse to own, No shadow will appear. [Illustration: SUNDIAL IN A WINDOW AT DERBY. Date 1888. ] We mark the seasons come and go, The swallows’ homeward flight; But hours that cause this ebb and flow, Are lost to thought and sight. [Illustration: SUNDIAL AT MOCCAS COURT, HEREFORDSHIRE. 17th Century. ] Everything comes to those who wait, So gaze on this dial and see, The morning dawn and the hours grow late, And the morrow will come to thee. [Illustration: SUNDIAL ON KING’S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE. Dated 1733. ] He who will procrastinate, Shall for Heaven one day be late, And when he would find a place, To-morrow he will have to face. [Illustration: SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY. ]