ICK! tick! tick! the seconds go,
Flying, oh, so fast,
And almost before I know
Quite an hour is past:
Hour by hour goes quickly on,
Till another day is gone.
Day by day is going fast,
Morning grows to night,
Till they make a year at last
Vanished out of sight.
Days, weeks, months, all sped away—
Yet they wait just day by day.
As the days and minutes go,
Speeding one by one,
So my childhood, youth, I know
Will ere long be done:
Books and toys all put away,
Done with lessons, done with play.
Be it mine to use with care
Time that will not stay,
Doing always here or there
Something good each day:
For as streams to ocean flow,
Youth is speeding fast, I know.