How Soon Hath Time

John Milton

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stoln on his wing my three and twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on wtih full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,
That I to manhood am arrived so near,
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits endu'th.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven;
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Taskmaster's eye. 

Next 10 Poems

• John Milton : Hymn On The Morning Of Christ's Nativity
• John Milton : Il Penseroso
• John Milton : L'allegro
• John Milton : Light
• John Milton : Lycidas
• John Milton : Methought I Saw My Late Espoused Saint
• John Milton : On His Blindness
• John Milton : On Shakespear
• John Milton : On The Death Of A Fair Infant Dying Of A Cough
• John Milton : On The Lord Gen. Fairfax At The Seige Of Colchester

Previous 10 Poems

• John Milton : From 'samson Agonistes' I
• John Milton : From 'arcades'
• John Milton : Comus
• John Milton : At A Vacation Exercise In The Colledge, Part Latin, Part English. The Latin Speeches Ended, The English Thus Began
• John Milton : At A Solemn Musick
• John Milton : Arcades
• John Milton : Another On The Same
• John Milton : An Epitaph On The Marchioness Of Winchester
• John Milton : An Epitaph On The Admirable Dramatic Poet W. Shakespeare
• Czeslaw Milosz : Woe!