1 Life is the time to serve the Lord, The time t' insure the great reward; And while the lamp holds out to burn The vilest sinner may return.
2 [Life is the hour that God has given To 'scape from hell, and fly to heaven, The day of grace, and mortals may Secure the blessings of the day.]
3 The living know that they must die, But all the dead forgotten lie, Their memory and their sense is gone, Alike unknowing and unknown.
4 [Their hatred and their love is lost, Their envy bury'd in the dust; They have no share in all that's done Beneath the circuit of the sun.]
5 Then what my thoughts design to do, My hands, with all your might pursue, Since no device, nor work is found, Nor faith, nor hope beneath the ground.
6 There are no acts of pardon past In the cold grave to which we haste, But darkness, death, and long despair Reign in eternal silence there.