The song of the minutes

1 We are but minutes - little things
Each one furnished with sixty wings,
With which we fly on our unseen track,
And not a minute ever comes back.

2 We are but minutes - yet each one bears
A little burden of joys and cares,
Patiently take the minutes of pain,
The worst of minutes cannot remain.

3 We are but minutes - when we bring
A few of the drops from pleasure's spring,
Taste their sweetness while we stay,
It takes but a minute to fly away.

4 We are but minutes - use us well,
For how we are used we must one day tell;
who uses us has hours to use,
Who loses minutes whole years must lose.

Source: The Hymnal for Boys and Girls #112