Lesson of the Water Mill

Listen to the water mill:
  Through the livelong day
How the clanking of the wheel
  Wears the hours away;

And a proverb haunts my mind
  As a spell is cast:
"The mill will never grind
  With the water that has passed."
Take the lesson to thyself,
  Loving heart and true;
Golden years are fleeting by,
  Youth is passing, too;
Learn to make the most of life;
  Lose no happy day;
Time will never bring thee back
  Chances swept away.
Leave no tender word unsaid;
  Love while life shall last;
"The mill will never grind
  with the water that has passed."

Take the proverb to thine heart,
  Take! Oh, hold it fast:
"The mill will never grind
  With the water that has passed!"
--Sarah Doudney