Ye Sundial Booke

VERSES AND SUNDIAL SKETCHES.

Reading edition

SUNDIAL ON CHARTRES CATHEDRAL, FRANCE. Date 1573.

Lord of light and dark we pray,

Guide us to the end of day,

And when hours of light are run,

Guard us till the hours of sun.

SUNDIAL ON KELWAYS’ BRIDGE, CHIPPENHAM, WILTS.

I have a lesson for all who have eyes,

And a motto for all who will learn.

Then hasten in time to be wise,

And the value of hours discern.

SUNDIAL ON OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, HAWKSHEAD.

Go, love thy Maker as thou ought,

The brotherhood as well;

Then honour England’s King as taught,

Nor let thy native land be bought,

While hours I have to tell.

SUNDIAL AT DENTON, Nr. CANTERBURY

If some hardship you do mourn,

Remember hours soon flee.

Thus every living creature born,

Though by some distraction torn,

Must take things as they be.

SUNDIAL ON ASHURST CHURCH, KENT. Dated 1643.

Men worry ’til ’tis light;

Then ’til it is dark;

They worry through the hours bright,

Forgetting how soon lost to sight,

Is time, that leaves its mark.

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

Men grumble at the sun,

And also at the rain;

They grumble whilst the hours each one,

Speed on and show by minutes none,

True cause why they complain.

SAXON SUNDIAL BUILT IN OVER A NORMAN WINDOW.

The Saxons divided time into tides,

The Normans for hours found place;

But the English with minutes and seconds besides,

Added more lines than my dial divides,

And now fractions I’m likely to grace.

SUNDIAL, OPHIR FARM, WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK.

In Æsop’s great race, ’twixt the tortoise and hare,

The former he makes out the winner,

But the sun which took part on that day, I’ll declare,

Defeated the tortoise and outran the hare,

Though not placed by Æsop “the sinner.”

SAXON SUNDIAL, GREAT EDSTONE.

By this dial and ancient sign,

Mark men hours of sun;

But the Architect Divine,

Portions out such things as time,

Suited to each one.

SUNDIAL IN ECCLESFIELD CHURCHYARD, YORKSHIRE. Dated 1862.

Finite men with finite minds,

Can measure finite things;

But limitation always binds

Each power, and Nature ever finds,

Infinity needs wings.

SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY.

Flowing water runs apace,

Swiftly and is gone;

So upon this dial’s face,

Time, like water, takes its place,

Ever moving on.

SUNDIAL AT LYDNEY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. Date about 1688.

Hope, like the sun, doth rise

Where care has set,

And though clouds veil her skies,

And disappointment vies,

Hope shineth yet.

SUNDIAL AT CATTERICK, YORKSHIRE.

Now patience, mortals, patience know,

Who seek an hour to swiftly go,

For time when gone ne’er comes again,

And what’s achieved will not remain.

SUNDIAL AT PUTNEY CHURCH.

O, swift are the wings of a swallow,

And the vibrating sound of a chime;

But naught has been borne that can follow,

Such a thing as a moment of time.

SUNDIAL ON MELBURY CASTLE, DORSETSHIRE. Date 1890.

Learn to value life, each one,

Judge by gifts received;

Count as gold the hours of sun,

Helping us in all works done,

Far more than we’d believed.

SUNDIAL. Date about 1740.

Nature may teach the time of year,

Frail man record the past;

But hours and minutes, ever dear,

Are noted surely by me here,

So long as I may last.

SUNDIAL AT ALLOA, SCOTLAND Date 1695.

Some men will give you of their time,

And others of their gold;

Let me but tend this simple rhyme,

Go, work your best while in your prime

Remembering you grow old.

SUNDIAL IN ABBEY GROUNDS, DRYBURG. Date 1640.

I watch the tints of early dawn,

The flickering light depart,

And through the hours of night ’til morn,

Patient I wait like one forlorn,

The new-born day to start.

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

He who hath no use for time,

Is either a fool or dead;

And, if compulsory choice were mine,

The latter I’d be in halls sublime,

Than a fool with useless head.

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

Earthly kings may rise and fall,

And rule with best endeavour;

But time supreme outlives them all,

Demands obedience to each call,

And keeps his throne for ever.

SAXON SUNDIALS ON PORCH AT MERSHAM CHURCH, KENT.

Thoughts eternal cast a gloom

Over things of time;

Save with minds where there is room

To think beyond the world and tomb,

About the sphere divine.

SUNDIAL, EARLY 17th CENTURY.

The glorious past all men recall,

The present they pass by;

But every hour that now doth pall,

Shall live some mortal to enthral

As part of history.

SUNDIAL ON OLD BUILDING, MONTHEY CANTON, VALAIS. Date 1756.

Like the ivy on a wall,

Fond memory ever clings,

Bringing back the hours to all,

Those that please and those that pall,

’Till death oblivion brings.

SUNDIAL AT THORPE PERROW, YORKSHIRE. Date 1756.

Life soon will be a dream,

A shadow of the past;

And years that now each one doth deem

Momentous, soon shall cease to seem

Aught but a flash at last.

SUNDIAL ON A CHURCH, TUNBRIDGE WELLS. Dated 1678.

To-morrow is a dream,

Thus when we awaken,

To all men it doth seem,

Unless this view is taken,

A day they must redeem.

SUNDIAL AT SCOTSCRAIG, FIFESHIRE. Date 17th Century.

This sundial cast away I found,

Bad men could not abide it,

It taught a lesson far too sound—

Stedfast to keep the daily round,

And never stray outside it.

SUNDIAL, LATE 18th CENTURY.

We depict the sun with smiling face,

While the man in the moon looks dour,

Because old Sol keeps in his place,

Nor, Luna-like, gets in disgrace,

But shines with all his power.

SUNDIAL ON HAYDON BRIDGE CHURCH, NORTHUMBERLAND. Date about 1796.

Our life is like a spark,

It dies while it doth burn,

And though fond eyes its passage mark,

Yet when ’tis gone and all is dark,

None of its place can learn.

SUNDIAL OVER A SHOP AT RYE.

Time’s scythe is always sharp and keen,

Since he needs it hour by hour.

With steady step though never seen,

He swings his blade with serious mien,

And levels bud and flower.

SUNDIAL ON CHÂTEAU DE JOSSELIN, FRANCE. Dated 1578.

No matter how common a stone may be,

How simple a ray of sun;

Yet man with the aid of both, you see,

And the use of a gnomon continually,

Shows the pace of each hour that’s run.

SUNDIAL AT ELMLEY CASTLE, WORCESTERSHIRE.

Time’s called our enemy, and why?

Because he goes so fast;

But when in grief to Time we cry,

And seek his aid with tear or sigh,

He’s found our friend at last.

SUNDIAL AT GREAT FOSTERS, NEAR EGHAM. Date about 1700.

’Tis ever later than we thought,

By minutes or by hour;

Simply because though men are taught,

To read the time, as all men ought.

They fail to use the power.

A GERMAN SUNDIAL.

Infants all are moments dear

Upon life’s ancient dial,

Children as minutes too appear,

The youth an hour, the man a year,

Old age a flickering shadow there,

That lingers for awhile.

SUNDIAL NEAR ROSS, HEREFORDSHIRE. 17th Century.

O Time, consoler of our grief,

Physician great are you,

Bringing, as no one else, relief,

When things seemed hopeless past belief,

And pain had robbed us, like a thief,

Of faith in all we knew.

SAXON SUNDIAL, WITH INSCRIPTION, AT BISHOPSTONE.

We remember the years, the months, and days,

That some notable acts recall;

But fail to note what this dial displays,

How the hours and minutes, in various ways,

Work out for each life that such time obeys;

A record that all must appal.

GREEK SUNDIAL IN THE LOUVRE, PARIS.

To the heavy heart the hours go slow,

To the merry always fast;

Simply to teach and all men show,

That though some hours go fast or slow,

Equal chances men may know

Of life’s pleasures while they last.

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

Like the psalmist each man says,

Remember not my youthful ways;

Present let my sins ne’er be,

When I pray think Thou of me.

And dear Lord, through life we find,

Sins forgiven, mercy kind.

SUNDIAL, AUSSEE, GERMANY.

No man can hope to save of time,

For ever on the move;

’Tis like the sand unsoaked with brine,

Which, firmly held, and we call mine,

Leaks through the fingers just like slime,

And simple claims disprove.

GREEK SUNDIAL.

The sun is my best friend;

Pray who is thine?

Learn, man, where’er you wend,

True kindness to extend

To thy friends to the end,

As I to mine.

SUNDIAL, GRÆCO-ROMAN, THE VATICAN, ROME.

Like me, true loyalty go show,

Ought else is simply treason.

He only serves his king below,

Who prays each day that he may know,

How best his foes to overthrow,

And get his wants in reason.

SUNDIAL, GERMAN TOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

All the world’s a-sighing,

A-crying and a-dying,

But spite of every trial,

That e’er shall vex or rile,

I stand a happy dial.

ROMAN SUNDIAL, THE MUSEUM, DOVER.

With me no deceiving,

For seeing’s believing.

The hours that I send,

Learn thou to extend,

Or if broken go mend.

SAXON SUNDIAL, LANGFORD CHURCH, BERKS.

Youth and age can ne’er agree

On the pace I go,

But they ask continually;

Youth I move more rapidly,

Age less speed I show.

SAXON SUNDIAL AT KIRKDALE, YORKSHIRE.

Time may rob us of our gold,

Or of some high estate;

But cannot for a day withhold,

Learning and wisdom manifold,

Reward of labour great.

SUNDIAL ON OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, HAWKSHEAD.

How are you, mortal, did you say?

Why, just the same as yesterday.

But, questioner, let me ask you,

How is the day? and how are you?

SUNDIAL AT UPTON, NORTHANTS.

If any fault with me you claim,

The man who altered me’s to blame.

Let not then the dial or sun

Suffer for another one.

SUNDIAL ON DIAL HOUSE, TWICKENHAM. Date 1715.

Go, let this day a pattern be

Of each lived for eternity,

And let the hours, every one,

Show evils vanquished, good deeds done.

SUNDIAL, BADMINTON HOUSE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

Believe me, mortals, when I say,

The past is what we make to-day;

So let us heed each hour of time,

E’er age gives way to youth and prime.

SUNDIAL AT WIMBORNE MINSTER, DORSETSHIRE.

O, Light of Light, come ever shine,

And show to me Thy way, not mine;

Nor let the hours wasted be,

That all too soon return to Thee.

SUNDIAL AT ABERDOUR.

Let the present ever be

Thy greatest care continually;

Future is not in thy hand,

Or past again at thy command.

SUNDIAL IN CLOISTER GARDENS, WINCHESTER COLLEGE. Dated 1712.

Like the smoke I soon shall go,

Journeying where no man doth know;

Though with the smoke doubtless I must

Revisit earth again in dust.

SUNDIAL IN ASHLEWORTH CHURCHYARD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

Learn to make the most of time,

For to waste it is a crime,

And some day we give account

Of loss and gain’s exact amount.

GLASS SUNDIAL, 17TH CENTURY.

If you threw yesterday away,

Then make up for your loss to-day;

Life is short and quickly run,

Haste, for soon the day is done.

ROMAN SUNDIAL IN DOVER MUSEUM.

Memory echo of the past,

Faint or clear for ever last;

Bring back happy hours each one,

But hide the rest, let not them come.

SUNDIAL, EARLY 17TH CENTURY.

No matter how the hours fly,

Men with faith on me rely;

Neither have they found me wrong,

Though I have lived so very long.

SUNDIAL, EARLY 17TH CENTURY.

God made the sun to rule the day,

And man made me to mark each ray;

Therefor with the two, you know,

Nought’s amiss with light below.

SUNDIAL. Date 1735.

Pilgrim dedicate each hour

To the source of light and power;

Thus before thy journey ends

No fears shall cloud the last He sends.

SUNDIAL AT CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD. Date 1581.

Soldier, though the time you mark,

Mark not time ’till it is dark.

Good drill, like mine, I’d have you know;

Turn to the right and forward go.

SUNDIAL, HOLLAND, 17TH CENTURY.

On every hostelry a dial you’d see,

Could some but have their way throughout this land,

Thus clocks within and dials without, surely,

“Time, gentlemen,” they’d better understand.

SUNDIAL ON AN ANCIENT CANNON.

Man, like a brave ship on the ocean of life,

Sets out for a country sublime;

And when he has weathered each turbulent strife,

He is beached on the sands of time.

SUNDIAL AT BLEADON, SOMERSET.

If I fall into decay,

Man must note the time of day;

And himself the hours must mark,

From early dawn until the dark.

SUNDIAL AT WOODHOUSELEE.

My dial is a picture rare,

On which the lives of all appear;

And he who studies me shall know

The value of his days below.

SUNDIAL IN MALVERN PRIORY CHURCHYARD.

He who would a fortune show,

Must expect some care to know,

For the same is never free

From wealth men seek incessantly.

SUNDIAL AT INISCALTRA, OR HOLY ISLE, LOUGH DERG.

Love like a ring it hath no end,

Nor yet the path I daily wend;

Time and love do therefore show

Eternity to all below.

100

SUNDIAL ON AN INN AT ROUGEMONT, SWITZERLAND.

Every hour improved by thee,

Is banked by Father Time,

And in future years to be,

The Interest is thine.

101

SUNDIAL AT MINLEY MANOR.

Take like me what is given

Whose source is in heaven,

For all gifts from above

Are sent us in love.

102

SUNDIAL ON AN OLD HOUSE, SARUM CLOSE, SALISBURY. Date 1749.

If to-night in peace you’d rest,

Let this day know of your best;

It is not late to make amends

Or to improve the time He sends.

103

SUNDIAL 20th CENTURY.

Time enough with all if they

Would do the day’s work in the day;

But men delight to change the year,

Upsetting hours as they appear.

104

SUNDIAL, NORTH STOKE, OXFORDSHIRE.

Our life’s a chain,

Which doth comprise,

No link the same,

In shape or size.

105

SUNDIAL ON LAON CATHEDRAL, FRANCE. Date 1748.

Learn to live,

Man say I;

E’er I give,

Learn to die.

106

SUNDIAL 18th CENTURY.

He who dedicates each hour,

To a power divine;

Receives full oft the Christian dower,

Life’s water turned to wine.

107

SUNDIAL AT EMERY PLACE, BRIDGEWOOD, COLUMBIA.

Never let true friendship rust,

Through lack of kind attention.

For without a friend to trust,

Life’s troubles won’t bear mention.

108

SUNDIAL AT COMPTON WYNYATES, WARWICKSHIRE.

Would’st thou be great?

Then let each hour

For thee create,

Fresh springs of power.

109

SUNDIAL AT KILMALKEDAR, IRELAND.

May thy hours be long,

And thy days be bright;

May thy cares be few,

And thy burdens light.

110

SUNDIAL ON THE DUTCH REFORM CHURCH, NEW YORK.

I am watching,

Nor alone,

Mark I hours,

Upon this stone.

111

SUNDIAL OF MARY WASHINGTON, FREDRICKSBERG, VIRGINIA.

When you find,

You’re behind,

Time is kind,

Never mind.

112

SUNDIAL ON CHELSEA OLD CHURCH. Date 1860.

Time’s too short

To dream away;

All men ought

To watch and pray.

113

SUNDIAL LATE 19th CENTURY.

Each day is new;

Some rays of light,

Are born for you,

Then lost to sight.

114

SUNDIAL 17th CENTURY.

From darkness to light,

From the light to dark,

I to and from sight,

Pass on to my mark.

115

SUNDIAL WILTON CROSS, WILTSHIRE.

Good morning, Sir

Pray note ye time;

I’ve kept my hour,

Hast thou kept thine?

116

SUNDIAL ON THE CITY TEMPLE. Date 1872.

Traveller think of the chances there be

To philosophise on this dial;

Think thou of thy life against Eternity,

Go, ponder and pray for awhile.

117

SUNDIAL 20th CENTURY.

Speech is silver, so I have been told,

And some virtue for copper there be,

But far above all is a silence that’s gold

What a valuable sundial you see.

118

SUNDIAL ON LEE CHURCH. Date 1760.

Amen it is so,

Amen so let it be.

Mortals learn to know

Time’s of Eternity.

119

SUNDIAL ON A CHURCH, MARWENSTOW, CORNWALL.

Lead kindly light,

Illuminate my way;

Let thy effulgence bright,

Turn night to day.

120

SUNDIAL 20th CENTURY.

Such is life,

Short as a day;

Full of strife,

Work, thought, and play.

121

SUNDIAL AT WALTON HALL, NEAR WAKEFIELD. Date 1813.

Halt I’ll never,

Stop me if you can;

I move for ever,

In spite of man.

122

EARLY GREEK DIAL, ORCHOMENOS, BOEOTIA.

I have no use for twilight,

For the rays of the silvery moon;

Sol’s brightest beams are my light,

Depart they ever so soon.

123

SUNDIAL AT HADDINGTON, SCOTLAND.

When man a fortune would repair,

Hours and minutes take their share;

But when the same he throws away,

He reckons life but by the day.

124

SUNDIAL AT STOKE D’ABERNON, SURREY.

We liken boundless things to time,

To teach unending span,

But fail to show in prose or rhyme,

Its origin’s from man.

125

SUNDIAL AT TRAVELLER’S REST, NEW YORK. 1770.

Traveller, gaze on this dial and pray

That your life may be full of sun;

With hours retarded day by day,

And pleasure in every one.

126

SUNDIAL IN GREYSTOKE CHURCHYARD. Date 1810.

Upon the evil and the good,

Ever sun doth shine;

But what’s so seldom understood,

Is charity divine.

127

SUNDIAL AT SHENSTONE VICARAGE, LICHFIELD.

If I mark a day of loss,

Gain one shade can give,

’Tis the shadow of the cross,

That bids dead hours live.

128

SUNDIAL AT BOLTON ABBEY.

Smile traveller, smile,

Look happy and banish all care;

There’s time on the face of this dial,

For a laugh, but never a tear.

129

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

Necessity’s the mother of invention,

Found true in every clime,

Then let this dial now mention,

She’s the grandmamma of time.

130

SUNDIAL ON BAKEWELL CHURCH. Date 1793.

An hour to live.

An hour to spend.

An hour to give,

Help to a friend.

131

EARLY GREEK SUNDIAL IN THE BERLIN MUSEUM.

To age, good-day,

To youth, good-bye,

Man like each ray,

Is born to die.

132

SUNDIAL, HERIOT’S HOSPITAL, SCOTLAND. Date about 1632.

No enemy have I,

I treat all men the same,

And daily do I try,

Lost friendships to reclaim.

133

SUNDIAL, GRAYFRIARS BURIAL GROUND, PERTH.

Learn thou to live;

You question me, then I

This answer give:

Thus shall you learn to die.

134

SUNDIAL AT YARROW KIRK. Date 1640.

I serve all men the same,

Kings, nobles, rich and poor,

For all go whence they came,

In time to earth once more.

135

SUNDIAL FROM PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.

No man can ever calculate

Of years the present sum,

Or tell by certain estimate

How many are to come.

136

SUNDIAL ON THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, RYE. Date 1831.

Time moveth steadily away;

And, save for this dial,

We should never know the day,

Or hours that now do smile.

137

SUNDIAL 19th CENTURY.

Time dissolves like the dew,

It descends like the rain,

For it visits this earth,

But will never remain.

138

A SCHOOL SUNDIAL AT ST. ANDREWS. Late 19th Century.

Be hours light or dim,

All of a chain are links;

Then evil be to him,

Who any evil thinks.

139

SUNDIAL AT TONGUE HOUSE, SUTHERLAND. Date 1714.

Get on with your work,

It will soon be night,

And all that you shirk

Sees to-morrow’s light.

140

SUNDIAL ON OLD WILLESDEN CHURCH, MIDDLESEX.

O, let no ruthless act destroy,

Aught that our Maker doth employ,

To live a life and so to teach,

Some mutual lesson each to each.

141

SUNDIAL AT CHEESBURN, NORTHUMBERLAND.

Time, passes fast away,

And like grasses turned to hay,

Holding a fragrance of the past,

So time a memory while we last.

142

SUNDIAL, BAVERHAUS, GERMANY. Date 1618.

I bid you all good day,

For there’s no time to waste,

So look, then turn away;

And haste, haste, haste.

143

SUNDIAL IN THE NORMAN KEEP, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.

This day may be your last,

To revel in the light,

So let no hour go past

To sadden what is bright.

144

SUNDIAL ON PERIVALE, MIDDLESEX. Date 1818.

Since all things change,

Time, I, and thou,

O, let’s arrange

To live well now.

145

SUNDIAL, GERMANY. 18th CENTURY.

We’re a long time dead,

And life is short,

So keep this day,

As all men ought.

146

SUNDIAL EARLY 17th CENTURY.

The end inevitable face,

All hours too soon are run;

And for those who take thy place,

Leave record of work done.

147

SUNDIAL, ALL SOULS, OXFORD.

This day that Thou hast given, Lord,

To waste no mortal can afford,

For from its hours can fashioned be,

Ladders to lift us up to Thee.

148

SUNDIAL AT ST. BARBARA MISSION, CALIFORNIA. Date 1786.

Enjoy the day, live every hour,

And let this thought stick fast—

That if for killing time we’ve power,

Time killeth us at last.

149

SUNDIAL 18th CENTURY.

The ocean is likened to time,

Because of its boundless expanse;

But men who have sailed to each clime,

Discredit such talk as romance.

150

SUNDIAL ON LIBERTON HOUSE, MIDLOTHIAN. Date 1683.

Each moment finds the past increased,

So swiftly Time moves on;

The bells for Matins scarce have ceased,

Ere it is Evensong.

151

SUNDIAL AT WASHINGTON’S HOUSE, LITTLE BRIGHTON, NORTHANTS.

’Tis man alone divides the day,

Observing hours called Time,

But birds and beasts the sun’s bright ray

With care in every clime.

152

SUNDIAL NEAR DANBY MILL, LEYBURN, YORKSHIRE.

Ever keep a smiling face,

Finding mirth some room;

Hours and minutes flow apace,

Life’s too short for gloom.

153

SUNDIAL AT GRAFTON REGIS.

Our life is like a chain,

Made up of hours now passed,

Yet only those remain

Fashioned for such to last.

154

SUNDIAL AT SAUL, Co. DOWN, IRELAND.

I number none but cloudless hours,

So through the years to be,

May the King of heavenly powers

Reckon bright hours to thee.

155

SUNDIAL AT THE OLD MANOR HOUSE, WESTWOOD, Nr. BRADFORD, WILTS.

Whereso’er your treasure lies,

There will be your greatest ties;

Ever, then, your riches send,

Forward to your journey’s end.

156

GERMAN SUNDIAL, EARLY 17th CENTURY.

“All’s well that ends well”,

Bear this fact in mind.

Start at the end then you can tell,

That all your hours were kind.

157

SUNDIAL, GRITTLETON HOUSE, CHIPPENHAM, WILTS.

Traveller, note this hour that I mark,

It shall never return;

Though hours I register after dark,

Count not from these to learn.

158

SUNDIAL ON BUILDING, “THE BELFRY TOWER,” PRA, THE RIVIERA.

Nothing is certain,

Not even the hour,

For clouds like a curtain,

Restrict the sun’s power.

159

SUNDIAL, SCOTLAND, 17th CENTURY.

Go, reckon my hour,

Then note time of day;

But remember I’ve power,

To mark thine the same way.

160

SUNDIAL IN THE FELLOWS’ GARDENS, CHRIST’S COLLEGE.

Love’s like ye sun,

It comes and it goes;

Love’s like ye tide,

It ebbs and it flows.

161

SUNDIAL ON ST. CUTHBERT’S CHURCH, DARLINGTON.

I divide ye hours,

And man ye days,

But ye heavenly powers

Ye sun’s bright rays.

162

SUNDIAL. Date 1674.

This hour is thine,

To mark if fine.

All hours are mine,

When sun doth shine.

163

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS, LEE CASTLE, LANARKSHIRE.

Fear not the dark,

Fear thou the light;

For men but mark,

Things clear to sight.

164

SUNDIAL AT ABBEYFIELD, Nr. SHEFFIELD.

He put me high up for to make,

Men ever upward glances take;

So by degrees in times they see,

God’s light and love reflect in me.

165

SUNDIAL IN LEYLAND CHURCHYARD, LANCASHIRE. Date 1714.

Blessed the hours which are dead,

For they died in the Lord.

More blessed men of whom ’tis said,

They kept His holy word.

166

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

Insure against the ravages of time,

Provide some years of rest for thy old age;

Go, make good use of days while in your prime,

The Sun gives chances to enrich life’s page.

167

SUNDIAL IN GUNNERSBURY PARK.

Rise up with the birds, go to bed with the same,

And at the sundial you will never complain.

But if time you’d know in the midst of the night,

Then mark each cock-crow before it is light.

168

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

Why time is likened to a wheel,

The reason I don’t know,

For only dials are truly leal,

A clock may cease to go.

169

SUNDIAL, SCOTLAND.

I note the hours of every day,

From early morn ’till dark;

Then all my work the hours repay,

And leave on me their mark.

170

SUNDIAL, TURKEY.

While there is life there is hope,

And with all are minutes to spare;

Strive, then, with trials to cope;

Look happy, and banish all care.

171

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF ROCKINGHAM CASTLE.

O swift is seen the lightning’s flash,

And soon is passed the thunder crash;

But naught can ever faster be,

Than time going imperceptibly.

172

GLASS SUNDIAL, OLD PARSONAGE, DIDSBURY.

Ruled by the light,

In space ruled you see,

Men tell aright,

What time it may be.

173

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

Love where you may,

Hate where you must,

Our life’s but a day,

And we are but dust.

174

SUNDIAL ON THE CLOISTERS OF VALDEMORA, MAJORCA.

I stand a relic of the past,

Revered by some, I trow.

Rain, hail, and snow, heat, cold, and blast,

Of such I’ve had enou’.

175

EARLY SUNDIAL ON POTTERSPURY CHURCH.

“The good old times” are always claimed

By the people of to-day,

Superior, when they have defamed,

Their own in every way.

176

SUNDIAL, LATE 18th CENTURY.

Many a man with sunless heart,

Envies me my simple part;

Yet a cheerful face like mine,

They can have when sun doth shine.

177

SUNDIAL, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE’S, APPLEBY.

I stand a monument to all,

Of hours that are beyond recall.

I stand a monument to some,

The hour you see, and hours to come.

178

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

Put not off from day to day,

Work for time that hastes away,

For too soon thy hours are run,

And this work remains undone.

179

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF BROWNSEA CASTLE.

Ye look on ye face of ye sky,

To learn what ye day shall be;

But look on this dial for why,

Ye hour is dearer to thee.

180

SUNDIAL IN PRIESTGATE, PETERBOROUGH. Date 1663.

Were I a mirror

You’d gaze at me;

Neglect, that error,

All men would flee.

181

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF WALTHAM RECTORY, GRIMSBY.

I mark ye hours,

Man notes ye time;

Spite storme and showers

Ye sun will shine.

182

EARLY SUNDIALS, ST. MICHAEL’S, ISEL, COCKERMOUTH.

The ancients regarded the face of the sky

To determine the time of day;

But moderns, economy anxious to ply,

A watch or a dial obey.

183

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

Let time be likened to a bridge,

Each stage of life a span,

Which crowns the piers that do support

In crossing every man.

184

SUNDIAL OVER THE PORCH OF ST. GREGORY’S, MINSTER.

If death should take you by surprise,

So that some work unfinished lies;

Remember, mortal, ere you fall,

Men but complete the best of all.

185

SUNDIAL ON THE MARKET CROSS, CARLISLE. Date 1682.

Like the plough I forward go,

Turning life’s furrows, and I show

Lines so straight that all will find,

I have never looked behind.

186

SUNDIAL, ST. BEAT HAUTES, PYRENEES.

Watches and clocks can never agree,

Though they’re kept for ever in motion;

Give up the lot and make use of me,

For of change I’ve never a notion.

187

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

All circular things were made to go,

With smallest friction, I’d have you know;

Thus with the time no trouble is found,

Since ever it moves so steadily round.

188

SUNDIAL ON WARWICK CASTLE.

It is well written in that book of gold,

By Solomon, the wisest man of old,

That fathers for their children should make store,

And not expect their sons to earn them more.

189

SUNDIAL AT WYCLIFF-ON-THE-TEES.

Far, far away, beyond these realms of time,

There shines perpetual day in halls sublime,

But here awhile light fails, the shadows fall,

Still love divine prevails, with rest for all.

190

SIR ISAAC NEWTON’S SUNDIAL IN COLSTERWORTH CHURCH.

Reverence my age,

Though you hate the truth,

That hours soon fly,

And so doth youth.

191

SUNDIAL AT MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY.

The brighter the light,

The deeper the shade,

And man sees aright,

How true I am made.

192

SUNDIAL AT FOUNTAINHALL, MIDLOTHIAN.

The gloom of our life’s darkest days,

The shadows that appal,

Shall fade before the sun’s bright rays,

That shine upon us all.

193

SUNDIAL AT GRACECHURCH RECTORY, NEW YORK.

Hours of sleep and rest remember,

I mark for every one,

Like trees and plants we keep December,

Before a summer’s sun.

194

SUNDIAL ON WINGFIELD MANOR. Date 1678.

Watchman, what of the night?

To this I’ve nought to say,

But when men ask what of the light?

I tell the time of day.

195

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF GLAMIS CASTLE, SCOTLAND.

Make the most of every hour,

Old age brings sure reflection;

Strive, then, while you have the power,

To work towards perfection.

196

SUNDIAL AT KIRK MAUGHOLD, ISLE OF MAN.

The Lord’s name is praised,

From early light ’til dark;

And every hour to Heaven is raised,

Some songs, which angels mark.

197

SUNDIAL, LATE 19th CENTURY.

Who will err when Heaven’s light,

Teaches us to do aright?

Who will wander when the sun,

Lights the path of everyone?

198

KING EDWARD’S SUNDIAL, SANDRINGHAM

Somewhere ’tis always day,

Somewhere ’tis always night;

Somewhere each sunset ray,

Gives stronger light.

199

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF CHILHAM CASTLE, KENT.

Injure not this dial,

Damage not your friend;

But let me teach awhile

Life’s hours to better spend.

200

SUNDIAL, BASTAL HALL, KENT. Dated, 1878.

True friendship is not known by length of days,

Nor gauged is it by what man says.

Good deeds, not words, the value shall assign

The proof of friendship for all time.

201

SUNDIAL AT DRYBURGH ABBEY. Date 1640.

Gossip, you waste not your hours alone,

Or the few minutes recorded by me;

Neighbours who listen lost time will bemoan.

Still, I will mark the whole lot down to thee.

202

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

Like the sound of a bell o’er the water,

That is heard from some distant chime;

So the brain oft recalls what was taught her,

Though lost for a period of time.

203

SUNDIAL FROM AN OLD CURIOSITY SHOP. Date 1700.

Good deeds of men through time shall show,

Like footprints on this earth below;

And each impress that is now given,

Shall make for them a road to heaven.

204

SUNDIAL AT THE TEMPLE, LONDON.

Come, learn ye hour, then haste away,

For time is moving on;

Ye work of life will brook no stay,

Take notice, and be gone.

205

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

Be thankful ’tis not always day,

Nor yet perpetual night;

Be thankful for the fading ray,

And for returning light.

206

SUNDIAL ON CHARTERHOUSE SCHOOL, GODALMING.

I’m placed upon this wall to prove,

That pleasant is the light above;

And I am also bidden show,

How man should mark the same below.

207

SUNDIAL AT CARBERRY, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

Woman, silently learn well,

To give the message you would tell.

Man, in patience, note from me,

To give and take continually.

208

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

I silently point to the hours that speak,

To a present that soon will be past,

To a shadow that ever fresh seconds seek,

And to minutes that glide away fast.

209

SUNDIAL IN THE DEANERY GARDEN, ROCHESTER.

Let the glory of departing day,

The radiance of the early morn,

Chase sleepless hours of night away,

Give sweet expectancy of dawn.

210

SUNDIAL ON THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, DOVER.

Ye hours that pass beyond recall,

Our God hath taken count of all.

Determine, then, all time shall be

Not wasted, but improved by thee.

211

SUNDIAL AT LAINSHAW, AYRSHIRE, SCOTLAND.

Pray not for ye day or night,

Too soon thy time is run;

And how canst thou discern aright,

The hours of dark or sun.

212

SUNDIAL OVER JOHN BUNYAN’S PRISON, BEDFORD BRIDGE.

Some days with sorrow are so full up,

’Twould take but a drop to spill the cup;

But that drop in mercy, ne’er is sent,

For troubles to kill were never meant.

213

SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY.

If thou in life some grief shall find,

Then, mortal, try to bear in mind;

No man has lived out every day,

And found each month that it was May.

214

SUNDIAL OVER THE STABLES, CHORLEY WOOD.

Upward turn thy gaze, not down,

Forward ever be thy look.

Cultivate a smile, nor frown,

At life’s perplexing story book.

215

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

Come, let this dial prove to you

The brevity of life,

And preach to all of hours too few

To waste in foolish strife.

216

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

O take time in time,

For time must go;

And time is no time

After life’s flow.

217

SUNDIAL IN ST. MARY’S AND ST. EANSWYTHE’S CHURCHYARD, FOLKESTONE.

Time calms all fears,

And lays to rest,

Eyes full of tears,

And trembling breast.

218

SUNDIAL ON QUEENS’ COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

The hours lost

Are beyond all cost;

The one you see,

Is the hour for thee.

219

SUNDIAL AT WRESTS, BEDFORDSHIRE.

Come man, awake,

And knowledge take,

No sleep is won,

’Til day is done.

220

SUNDIAL ON WEST HAM ABBEY CHURCH. Date, 1803.

Learn from the mirror effect of time,

On thy face e’en day by day;

But reckon the minutes seen on mine,

That work thy life’s decay.

221

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

Men quarrel on things of the past,

Or on years that never may come;

But the present which glides away fast,

Is hardly remembered by some.

222

SUNDIAL ON ST. SEPULCHRE’S CHURCH, NEWGATE STREET.

’Tis time for bed, ’tis time to rise,

’Tis time for food and exercise;

This is my round and common task,

To tell men time when they do ask.

223

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF MADELEY COURT, SHROPSHIRE. Date 17th Century.

I serve you, the sun serves me;

I serve the sun, the sun serves thee.

Who serves most, can you not see?

Man made this dial, he serves three.

224

SUNDIAL AT THURSLEY, SURREY.

Ne’er heave a sigh or call alas,

At hours that ever quickly pass;

For all I mark our God doth send,

To hasten on thy journey’s end.

225

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF CAWSTON LODGE, RUGBY. Date 1863.

Our life’s a shadow man hath said;

And death is like to endless shade;

But only those departed know,

Value of time and light below.

226

SUNDIAL ON INNES HOUSE, MORAYSHIRE, SCOTLAND. Date 1640 to 1653.

All lines are straight upon my face

Like every line of duty;

But he who made this stone found place

For extra lines of beauty.

227

SUNDIAL FROM PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.

O were this dial a mirror bright,

Then all would gaze at me,

And strive from morn ’til late at night

Each lineament to see.

228

SUNDIAL AT “THE COTTAGE,” CHORLEY WOOD.

Increase thy knowledge, ample store

I keep on dial mine;

Nor ever reckon cheap or poor

The rudiments of time.

229

SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY.

Shifty as the wind is life,

The lot of everyone,

Swayed by pleasure, work, and strife;

How opposite the sun!

230

SUNDIAL OVER A SHOP AT LEIGHTON BUZZARD, BEDFORDSHIRE.

Each shining ray of light you see,

Is an emblem of eternity,

For every ray that cheers our eyes.

Descends to earth from far-off skies.

231

SUNDIAL, EARLY 17th CENTURY.

He gave thee life and takes the same,

And He shall give thee life again;

Then argue not what form ’twill be,

But be content, He gives it thee.

232

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

Who knows the value of to-morrow

’Til it is yesterday?

Or who true comfort in some sorrow,

’Til it has passed away?

233

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

As the stream is to the river,

And the river to the sea,

Days and months flow on for ever,

As parts of eternity.

234

SUNDIAL ON MOOT HALL, ALDEBURGH.

Have you no question to ask?

Have you no lesson to learn?

Traveller, what of your task?

Halt not a moment or turn.

235

SUNDIAL AT DALSTON, CUMBERLAND.

Man may make a dial of stone,

And fashion it with care,

But if the sun refuse to own,

No shadow will appear.

236

SUNDIAL IN A WINDOW AT DERBY. Date 1888.

We mark the seasons come and go,

The swallows’ homeward flight;

But hours that cause this ebb and flow,

Are lost to thought and sight.

237

SUNDIAL AT MOCCAS COURT, HEREFORDSHIRE. 17th Century.

Everything comes to those who wait,

So gaze on this dial and see,

The morning dawn and the hours grow late,

And the morrow will come to thee.

238

SUNDIAL ON KING’S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE. Dated 1733.

He who will procrastinate,

Shall for Heaven one day be late,

And when he would find a place,

To-morrow he will have to face.

239

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

Though some time it has departed,

Mortal, never be downhearted.

Go, learn to keep a smiling face,

Until the hours of dark find place.

240

SUNDIAL AT LOWER HARLSTON, NORTHANTS.

We change with time,

But fail to mark,

Like time our change

’Til near the dark.

241

SUNDIAL AT BROUGHAM HALL, WESTMORLAND. Date 1660.

Gold can buy this dial.

But not the hour,

Nor yet Sol’s smile,

My greatest dower.

242

SUNDIAL AT SAG HARBOUR, LONG ISLAND. U.S.A.

Cultivate a happy mien,

Whilst the sun now smiles,

Thus cares shall only intervene,

Like shadows on sundials.

243

SUNDIAL AT ALDINGTON, KENT. Date 1799.

God who taught the birds to sing,

Did so for man’s pleasure;

And He put sweet songs on wing,

Timed to varying measure.

244

SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY.

I made this sundial for to prove,

How precious is the light above,

Grant thou, dear Lord, that men may know

The value of Thy light below.

245

SUNDIAL IN CHURCHYARD AT STRETTON, CHESHIRE.

This hour I mark too soon shall fly

E’er thou dost rest beneath the sod,

And of thy deeds shall testify,

Before the throne of God.

246

SIR WALTER SCOTT’S SUNDIAL, ABBOTSFORD.

On the anvil of Time

Our life is wrought,

Shaped for the sublime

In deed and thought.

247

SUNDIAL, EARLY 19th CENTURY.

To-morrow is to-day,

Value then each hour,

For years soon pass away,

And death doth lower.

248

SUNDIAL OF WOOD. Date 1617. Seen in a Curiosity Shop.

As a minute is to the hour,

And the hour is to the day,

So proportion while you’ve power,

With fairness work and play.

249

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

Work, then while you have the time,

Never let thy talents rust;

Take a lesson from my sign,

The dial says die all we must.

250

ROMAN SUNDIALS, FROM VILLA SCIPIO, ROME.

I think all men will well agree,

At this similitude sublime,

Since bounds there are to earth and sea,

Nought beats the shifting sand for time.

251

SUNDIALS ON THE TOWER OF THE WINDS, ATHENS.

I wonder who split up the day,

Into hours of dark and hours of light?

Or who apportioned minutes, pray?

With seconds to shorten day or night.

252

SUNDIAL ON ST. MARY’S CHURCH, DITCHINGHAM, NORFOLK.

Who murmurs at our God’s decree,

Forgets His love divine,

How that He cares for all we see,

And calls us “children mine.”

253

SUNDIALS ON THE OLD SEVEN DIALS COLUMN, LONDON.

From the wreck of years I stand,

Still awaiting thy command,

Praying that each hour may be

Given to thy God by thee.

254

SUNDIAL, OLD COVENT GARDEN. Date, the reign of James II.

Ho, spendthrift, take a look at time,

’Tis more than gold you squander,

For hours men waste when in their prime,

Cast shadows like Sol yonder.

255

SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY.

A riddle I will put to thee:

Who gives thee years yet takes of thine?

Who lends thee most when he robs thee?

You’ve guessed, no doubt—’tis Father Time.

256

SUNDIAL ON BEDALE CHURCH, DARLINGTON. Date, 1750.

We promise great things for the morrow,

No matter how bright the sun’s ray;

But oft we’re defeated by sorrow,

So why not fulfil them to-day.

257

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF BROUGHTON HALL, Nr. BANBURY.

“A stitch taken in time saves nine,”

Not so with each hour that I mark;

These increase on this dial mine,

And you lose what I gain ’til dark.

258

SUNDIAL ON SHEEPSTOR CHURCH, DARTMOOR. Date 1640.

’Tis not enough to simply be,

Leaving work undone,

Nor yet to live continually,

Basking in the sun.

259

SUNDIAL AT BASLOW, DERBYSHIRE.

Visit me, thou light of heaven,

Grant men time to know;

Let the hours be surely given,

To the world below.

260

SUNDIAL AT MILLRIGG CULGAITH, Nr. PENRITH. Date 17th Century.

Like the bee and ant, go learn

How the seasons take their turn;

Never waste an hour of sun,

’Til the harvest’s fully won.

261

SUNDIAL AT HILLSIDE, NEW YORK.

Follow not the idle crowd,

Ever fickle, ever loud;

Keep thou to the best of all,

Hark to Nature, hear her call.

262

SUNDIAL IN THE GARDEN OF AN OLD COTTAGE AT CHORLEY WOOD.

No man e’er lived to truly say,

“I’ve made the most of every day.”

So let this cheer in work undone

To feel you’ve made the most of some.

263

SUNDIAL OF CHARLES II., WINDSOR, 1660.

I cannot move, I have no power,

But yet I give a sign each hour.

I cannot talk, perhaps ’tis well,

But without speech the time I tell.

264

SUNDIAL AT BLACKWELL MILL, DARLINGTON.

Scorn to have it of thee said,

Ere sun had set, he went to bed,

When morning light had lit the skies,

He from his couch had failed to rise.

265

SUNDIAL AT AIRTH, STIRLINGSHIRE, SCOTLAND. Date 1697.

Time dogs us always by the heel,

Making each mortal man to feel,

Present and mightier than all powers,

Those spectres of our mis-spent hours.

266

SUNDIAL ON GRACE CHURCH, MERCHANTVILLE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A.

He tempers the steel to its use,

He fashions the clay to design;

But man ever rusts through abuse,

Disfigures the vase he calls mine.

267

SUNDIAL 19th CENTURY.

If men rest in the arms of time;

O then, what of the strength of mine?

For every man doth surely know,

Time carried with one arm I show.

268

SUNDIAL IN MARSDEN PARK, NELSON.

If but ye sun would always shine,

I’d never cease to mark ye time;

And yet if it were ever so,

Ye time ye would not care to know.

269

SUNDIAL AT MOUNT MELVILLE, Nr. St. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND. Date 1788.

Our life is like a bridge,

That spans Time’s ancient river,

We leave of earth one ridge,

Then cross to earth for ever.

270

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

From ye dial learn ye hours,

From ye mirror learn ye years;

But length of life learn from ye flowers,

How short our time appears.

271

SUNDIAL OF CHARLES DICKENS, GADSHILL. Date 1793.

Men cannot simply happy be,

Through having of mere property,

For joys come not from what we own,

But wealth of character alone.

272

SUNDIAL FROM PEMBROKESHIRE.

Ere shadows form upon my dial,

Birds from sleep awaken,

Fearing lest the sun should smile,

In hours not overtaken.

273

SUNDIAL IN CHURCHYARD AT CASTLETON, DERBYSHIRE.

Husband each departing ray,

Chances that the sun has given,

For to make of hours to-day

A life acceptable for Heaven.

274

SUNDIAL IN THE “DANE JOHN” GARDENS, CANTERBURY.

If with mortal men were power,

To count their blessings every hour,

All would very soon agree,

How few their troubles seemed to be.

275

SUNDIAL AT MINSTER, ISLE OF SHEPPEY. Date 1641.

If a shadow hides the sundial

Just like a cloud o’er love;

E’en though it lasts a little while,

’Twill very soon remove.

276

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

The sun each day scarce rises in its might

When, lo! too soon appears a sunset bright.

So, as a child, we scarce the light have seen,

E’er for each one, life’s sunset draws a screen.

277

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

There are hours for work and hours for play,

And hours appointed for men to pray;

But the hours we love, come, truly say,

Are hours for rest at the end of day.

278

SUNDIAL IN TURKEY.

I have so often heard men say,

We will do this another day.

When all the while life’s dying spark,

Was doomed to leave them in the dark.

279

SUNDIAL AT SELBOURNE. Date about 1760.

With the memory there is power

To re-create the fleeting hour;

O careful, then, all men should be

That they each hour shall wish to see.

280

SUNDIAL ON YORK MINSTER.

The day was given to enjoy,

And hours to usefully employ;

But men were never meant to be

Slaves to seconds continually.

281

SUNDIAL IN THE TEMPLE GARDENS, LONDON.

Mark well the hours of the day,

Note well each fleeting year,

And never let time slip away,

Through idleness or fear.

282

SUNDIAL IN CHURCHYARD, ROXBURGH PARK, HARROW-ON-THE-HILL. Date 1725.

Do not let it e’er be said,

He never earned his daily bread;

Like a drone within the hive,

He lived by others when alive.

283

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

If the time ye cannot mark,

Never grumble at the dark;

For if days were bright, each one,

All would weary of the sun.

284

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

Yonder bird that ever crows,

Nought of seconds or minutes knows,

Hours alone the knave doth tell,

And even these he keeps not well.

285

SUNDIAL IN CHURCHYARD AT CHILHAM, KENT.

Law and order all obey,

Do not then this truth gainsay;

For in use of sordid pelf,

Thou are such unto thyself.

286

SUNDIAL ON A BRIDGE, PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.

If life’s shadows sadden you,

Painting all in darkest hue,

Still remember every one,

Is regulated by the sun.

287

SUNDIAL IN ILFORD CEMETERY.

As the tolling of a bell,

Proclaims a life that ends,

So I, though silently, do tell

The death of hours God sends.

288

SUNDIAL AT FEROX HALL, TONBRIDGE.

Into the darkest corner of our lives

Oft times a sunbeam darts;

Then straight within the breast fond hope revives;

Dull care, repulsed, departs.

289

SUNDIAL AT SMEETH. Date 1826.

There is just enough light for the task of to-day,

To-morrow’s never could hold it;

Go, then, work with a will and with strength while you may,

For life is just what you mould it.

290

SUNDIAL. Dated 1740.

We live by each kind action,

And die by those of hate;

Then let no day or fraction

Show worthless estimate.

291

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

A girl’s life without love,

And a dial without light,

Are as hopeless I’d prove

As a man without sight.

292

SUNDIAL AT HARWORTH, DARLINGTON.

Build not on the morrow,

Sufficient for the day,

Anxiety brings sorrow,

No matter what men say.

293

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

I’m never in a hurry,

Neither time I lose;

Our life’s too short to worry,

And hours to misuse.

294

SUNDIAL OVER CHURCH PORCH, STOKE ALBANY, NORTHANTS.

Hide not thy face

Too soon dark falls,

Send saving grace,

And hear our calls.

295

SUNDIAL FROM CONNECTICUT, U.S.A.

It is still day,

’Twill soon be night,

Work then, and pray,

To live aright.

296

SUNDIAL AT PACKWOOD, WARWICKSHIRE.

Time rules this earth,

With stern decree,

That all we’re worth,

Shall forfeit be.

297

SUNDIAL, LATE 18th CENTURY.

Go your own way,

Leave me to mine,

Yet think some day,

Upon my sign.

298

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

Long may you live,

Happy may you be,

May the hours move slowly,

And from care be free.

299

SUNDIAL AT THE GRANGE, CALNE, WILTS.

Make the most of everything,

Gather each day’s plums;

Hours and minutes soon take wing,

To-morrow never comes.

300

SUNDIAL AT SHRUBLANDS.

He who hesitates is lost,

Time’s too short to falter,

Be thou wise and count the cost,

Nor ever wish to alter.

301

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN’S SUNDIAL, ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, LONDON.

I greet old faces with a smile,

Recall the fleeting years,

And point to hours upon my dial,

Authors of hopes and fears.

302

SUNDIAL AT KINGSTON LACY.

A cunning workman fashioned me,

To tell the time of day.

Unless a fool should alter me,

I’ll never go astray.

303

SUNDIAL AT ENFIELD PARK.

Remember ever when you’re late,

Causing other men to wait,

You responsible shall be,

For your unpunctuality.

304

SUNDIAL IN THE GROUNDS OF THE HOSPICE OF ST. CROSS, WINCHESTER.

Ye bright sun and ye shade,

Show how true I am made;

And my lines, every one,

Are all evenly done.

305

SUNDIAL AT BATTLE ABBEY, HASTINGS.

By time you must measure,

Your work and your pleasure,

So be fair with each hour,

Nor abuse thy great power.

306

SUNDIAL AT SUDBROOKE.

Our life is short,

So be thou kind,

For no man ought,

To anger find.

307

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

Love rules the world,

Turns night to day,

When hate is hurled

Far, far away.

308

SUNDIAL AT MONKEND, YORKSHIRE.

Idle not thy time away,

We are all known by our work,

And if toil we fear to-day,

Extra tasks next morn we shirk.

309

SUNDIAL AT LITTLE MALVERN.

Wherever shadows do appear

Be sure there’s always sun,

And every doubt and every fear

Must vanish one by one.

310

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

If on looks ye build, my lass,

Learn like a shadow they must pass,

Affect not then at all surprise,

For in my face a fortune lies.

311

SUNDIAL AT CHILVESTER LODGE, CALNE, WILTS. Date 1754.

Since theft by all is judged a crime,

Who will excuse poor Father Time,

For since this world saw light hath he,

Pilfered and stole continually.

312

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

Be cheerful under adverse showers,

Honest, bright, and full of fun;

For our fellow-men, like flowers,

Ever turn towards the sun.

313

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

If you would retrieve time lost,

Sacrifice some hours of play;

Remember life exceeds all cost,

And night soon ends each day.

314

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

In hope man hurries on his way,

To work his will ere close of day,

Remembering always, with a sigh,

How swift the hours and minutes fly.

315

SUNDIAL AT STANTON ST. QUINTIN, CHIPPENHAM, WILTS.

At even’ ere the sun be set,

While golden twilight lingers yet—

Before night’s hours do intervene,

A brighter light is often seen.

316

CANNON SUNDIAL, BELONGING TO THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO.

Like a warrior take a look,

Ever bringing time to book,

For he’ll take thee unaware,

If no hours ye mark with care.

317

SUNDIAL IN GARDENS OF QUEEN MARY’S HOME, WHITSTABLE.

Roses all the year I grow,

And with such I never part,

For though seasons come and go,

Roses bloom within my heart.

318

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY, LATEST PATTERN.

There is nothing that’s new under the sun,

Such a statement is truly sublime;

Then boast not ideas, original one,

When unknown are the annals of Time

319

SUNDIAL, COOKHAM, BERKS.

Go, live thy life, enjoy the day,

Those happy hours that swiftly fly;

Yet learn thou from each sunset ray

To live, remembering all must die.

320

SUNDIAL AT BALCARRES HOUSE, FIFESHIRE.

Learn thou surely from the past,

What thou to-day should’st be;

Thus shall thine own records last,

And others learn from thee.

321

SUNDIAL AT GOLDER’S GREEN.

Clouds that veil life’s sky give pain,

Dull the vision, clog the hour;

But all clouds condense in rain,

And bring a blessing with the shower.

322

SUNDIAL AT LEWANNICK, LANCASTER, ENGLAND.

All things must die,

’Tis God’s behest;

Then never sigh,

He calls it rest.

323

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

That friends are rare

All men agree;

Yet I will swear

I’m true to thee.

324

SUNDIAL AT HAMPTON COURT, LONDON.

Keep sorrow for to-morrow,

Do not spoil to-day,

For those who wait, it will abate,

And soon fly fast away.

325

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

To those who would marry,

Like day, do not tarry,

For he hastes in his flight,

To be wed with the night.

326

SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY.

Read the riddle that I’ve found,

Come, answer it to me,

What is it travels o’er new ground,

And old continually?

327

SUNDIAL AT SOUTH PLACE, CALNE, WILTS.

One rival only do I fear,

Ignored e’en now by man,

Nature, that tells the time of year,

By many a varying plan.

328

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

If but the sun would always shine

You’d have perpetual motion.

The shadow on this dial mine,

Would claim it like the ocean.

329

SUNDIAL AT TIDESWELL, DERBYSHIRE.

Let not your wrath outstay the sun,

For He who fashioned everyone

Has said that He will never be,

A friend to those in enmity.

330

A CANNON SUNDIAL AT THE ARSENAL, FRANKFORD, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.

Wait not for the sun to shine;

Should there be a cloud or rain,

By the forelock take thou Time,

Haste away and call again.

331

SUNDIAL AT BUXTON, NORFOLK.

A work well begun is half done,

This motto we will not mend,

But add that hours of play are won

When the hours of toil we end.

332

SUNDIAL AT NEASHAM, DURHAM.

O, speed ye hours of dark away,

Give place to hours of sun;

I only live while it is day,

And die when night doth come.

333

SUNDIAL, EARLY 18th CENTURY.

If life’s labours weary you,

Casting shade on days of grace,

Try and keep in each hour new,

Like the sun, a smiling face.

334

SUNDIAL AT MARTOCK, SOMERSET.

Traveller think,

Yet do not remain,

But ere you go,

Just think again.

335

SUNDIAL AT KIRKLEES PARK, BRIGHOUSE, YORKSHIRE.

Your servant, sir,

I’m never late;

Do not demur,

I’m up to date.

336

SUNDIAL AT HARROW SCHOOL, HARROW. Date 1869.

Let each day begin with praise

To thy God on high;

Like the birds, fresh anthems raise

E’er the day doth die.

337

SUNDIAL AT TRELLECH, TINTERN, MONMOUTHSHIRE. Date 1648.

Would’st thou prolong thy life?

Live not too fast;

Seek not to-morrow’s cares

Before to-day’s are past.

338

SUNDIAL AT THE PALACE OF QUIRINAL, ROME. Date 1718.

A little time and you shall see

This shadow’s journeyed on my dial;

But though you gaze full hard at me,

You cannot mark me move the while.

339

SUNDIAL FROM AN OLD CURIOSITY SHOP, LONDON.

Like a coin each day is made,

From darkest night till morn,

For when its worth is duly paid,

We pass it and ’tis gone.

340

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

If death doth seem a tragedy,

And men esteem it such;

Then make sweet life a comedy,

Nor fret thou over much.

341

SUNDIAL, BROWNSEA CASTLE, DORSET.

Ho! all gardeners find

Your forks and your spades;

For the sun has consigned,

This shade to the shades.

342

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

Spend each hour as best you may—

Life is full of sorrow,

And the roses of to-day

Live but through the morrow.

343

SUNDIAL AT PRESTBURY, ENGLAND.

Though Heaven is our home,

We pilgrims have no option,

Whilst we are here, but roam

O’er the land of our adoption.

344

SUNDIAL AT KILRAVOCK CASTLE, SCOTLAND.

Life’s a bubble some men say,

Who never look at me;

It may be so to fools, but know

Life’s stern reality.

345

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY.

I view the early dawn,

Endure the heat of day,

And hours of night till morn

Watch silently away.

346

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

Be like a cork on the ocean

Of Time’s unlimited span,

And though troubles may sink hold the notion,

To rise up again the same man.

347

SUNDIAL AT CASTLE HOUSE, CALNE, WILTS.

Everyone I’d have you know,

Some day must a journey go,

But, like me, not all come round,

To follow the paths they’ve proved so sound.

348

SUNDIAL AT THE CHÂTEAU DE TOURNEUELLES, FRANCE.

Come, follow me,

And you shall see,

The morning dawn,

And shadows flee.

349

SUNDIAL AT ST. ANNE’S, TINTERN, MONMOUTHSHIRE. Date 1680.

Attend to your work,

’Tis ever best,

For others will shirk,

Where there’s no zest.

350

SUNDIAL 17th CENTURY.

The man who lets these hours decay,

With charity undone,

May want a friend another day,

And fail to find e’en one.

351

SUNDIAL IN THE BOTANICAL GARDENS, OXFORD.

Good health to enjoy ye hour,

And some strength to improve it,

Let shadows no sweetness sour,

Whilst my gnomon can move it.

352

SUNDIAL AT HARTBURN, NORTHUMBERLAND.

Keep your eyes well open,

Never miss a chance,

Trust to me to holpen,

All who at me glance.

353

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

O fear not the sun,

But fear ye the shade,

For hours when run,

Are never re-made.

354

SUNDIAL AT HEDSOR.

Go, mortals, live,

Do not exist,

Take all I give,

Let naught be missed.

355

SUNDIAL AT WILMSLOW, CHESHIRE.

The same to all,

The good and bad,

What e’er befall,

You’ve all I had.

356

SUNDIAL AT PATRINGTON, YORKSHIRE.

May the hours be golden,

Free from care’s alloy.

And whilst they are holden,

May they never cloy.

357

SUNDIAL AT THELWALL.

To-morrow if we live,

To-day before we die,

Make most of time I give,

For hours swiftly fly.

358

SUNDIAL AT THE PALACE SCHWERIN.

To the history of this world,

We contribute all,

And since Time must be unfurled,

Let no act appal.

359

SUNDIAL AT GRAYHOUSE, DUNDEE, SCOTLAND.

They who drive true love away,

Causing often sorrow,

Soon on bended knee shall pray,

His return some morrow.

360

SUNDIAL, 17th CENTURY, at BUEN RETIRO, CHURRIANA, Nr. MALAGA.

A shadow of a shadow,

A fraction men call time,

Yet from this shade go borrow,

A wisdom all sublime.

361

SUNDIAL IN YEW AND CUT BOX.

Some men the night do fear,

While others dread the day,

But he who shuns the year,

Time help him pass away.

362

SUNDIAL AT BRYMPTON, Nr. YEOVIL.

Who knows each mark upon my face,

Ye sunny hours do plan,

Or who can tell each line of shade,

Not man—not man.

363

SUNDIAL AT WROXTON ABBEY, OXFORDSHIRE.

O live not to the minute,

Keep some time well reserved,

Thus fates through life they spin it,

Ne’er cut it unobserved.

364

SUNDIAL ON THE MARKET CROSS, WOODSTOCK.

Consult this dial and you see,

A cause for fresh alarm,

Learn safety knows no certainty,

Save strength of thy right arm.

365

SUNDIAL IN THE GARDENS OF THE BISHOP’S PALACE, CHICHESTER.

It is given to each one,

To rise above the ills of life,

And of trials there are none,

That are unconquerable in strife.

366

SUNDIAL AT NEWBATTLE, SCOTLAND. Date 1635.

Time may change the hearts of men,

But not the record of their lives;

For when they are perished, then

All their history survives.

367

SUNDIAL AT BROMBOROUGH HALL, CHESHIRE.

Love like the tide may ebb and may flow,

May fail in fond endeavour.

But love that is true I’d have you know,

Like time, lives on for ever.

368

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

O never meet this life’s reverses,

With idle words or foolish curses,

But strive to prove that each one blesses,

All thy endeavours to successes.

369

SUNDIAL AT HICKORY GROUND. BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A.

Though some look forward, some look back,

And others mark the present,

I leave to Fate all chance attack,

Keep working and look pleasant.

370

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

If me with life you would compare,

Every minute takes its share,

O suffer then no time to be

Wasted or misused by thee.

371

SUNDIAL AT MELLOR, DERBYSHIRE.

Ever let each rainbow prove,

God’s eternal, God is love,

And for hours of light you see,

Praise His name continually.

372

SUNDIAL AT MARKET HARBOROUGH.

Where are those who went before?

And where are hours past?

Departed they return no more,

So long as time may last.

373

SUNDIAL IN THE GARDEN OF THE BISHOP’S PALACE, CANTERBURY.

At the breaking of the day,

We seldom think of night,

And till childhood’s passed away,

Death seldom looms in sight.

374

SUNDIAL IN WESTBOURNE PARK ROAD, LONDON. Date 1850.

With an iron rod I mark

Every sunny hour till dark,

With a rod of iron, too,

Every hour marks all you do.

375

SUNDIAL, COOKHAM, BERKSHIRE. 18th Century.

Go, live as long as you can,

Love for ever and aye;

Be kind to every man,

For life soon passes away.

376

SUNDIAL ON BISHOP FOX’S TOWER, FARNHAM, SURREY.

Whither wend ye, Sir, to-day,

What about the hour;

Tarry not too long away,

From thine ancestral tower.

377

SUNDIAL AT SHIRLEY.

Forgotten, yet recorded,

Reminder of the past,

Each hour from life defrauded,

Thou showest us at last.

378

SUNDIAL ON JOHN KNOX’S HOUSE. Date 1565.

Blame not the hour,

For God’s bright sun,

Gave you like power

This course to run.

379

SUNDIAL AT PORT SUNLIGHT.

O mourn not the old,

But rejoice in the new,

For hours that I hold,

Are gifts good and true.

380

SUNDIAL ON IMPERIAL HOTEL, SOUTHAMPTON ROW, LONDON.

Do not think me solemn,

For I am full of fun,

The hours when bright I hold them,

When dark I mark not one.

381

SUNDIAL AT MOOR PARK, HERTS.

Let mirth give place to sorrow,

Time is with you yet.

Live, for a to-morrow,

May never dawn or set.

382

SUNDIAL ON A HOUSE, HEATH DRIVE, WEST HAMPSTEAD.

The wisest saying if unheard,

Is like this hour unseen,

And idle years that mark no word,

Or time, need not have been.

383

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

To stop a trouble on the way,

Go meet the same at break of day,

For like a snowball trouble grows,

Each hour it moves, each step it goes.

384

SUNDIAL, EARLY 17th CENTURY.

Be brave, be strong,

It is not long,

Ere you shall see

All troubles flee.

385

SUNDIAL IN BIDSTONE CHURCHYARD, CHESHIRE. Date 1733.

Old friends are best,

Time tells us so,

Hark his request,

No further go.

386

SUNDIAL ON AN HOTEL, HAMPSTEAD HEATH. Date 1875.

O regulate your lives,

Come order them by me,

For he grows rich and thrives,

Who husbands hours men see.

387

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

We both await the hour,

Time we cannot hurry,

Whilst we’ve life and power,

Let us cease from worry.

388

SUNDIAL ON A COTTAGE IN NORMANDY.

I never miss my mark,

Or wander from the track,

For when ’tis grown too dark,

I wait ’til day comes back.

389

SUNDIAL AT BIDDULPH, STAFFORDSHIRE. Date 16th Century.

To-morrow and to-morrow,

Every mortal cries;

All from the future borrow,

Forgetting how time flies.

390

SUNDIAL ON LELANT CHURCH, CORNWALL.

He who thinks to kill ye hour,

Over-estimates his power,

For although he hath the will,

Time alone exists to kill.

391

SUNDIAL AT ASTBURY, CHESHIRE.

Love alone outlives our day,

Vanquishing e’en time,

For when we have passed away,

’Tis found in halls sublime.

392

SUNDIAL ON PENN CHURCH, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

Dissolved ’tis possible men may be,

In mind and matter eternally,

But things created here below,

A future resurrection show.

393

SUNDIAL AT ALDINGTON HALL, KENT.

If ’tis earlier than you thought,

Use time’s balance as you ought,

Waste not hours that you need,

To further work you fain would speed.

394

SUNDIAL AT MORDEN COLLEGE, BLACKHEATH. Date 1695.

Live, like me, in the present,

Dwell not on the past,

Your life will be more pleasant,

And hours longer last.

395

SUNDIAL, 19th CENTURY.

From the dial learn content,

And many other virtue,

For the hours were never meant,

To fashion things to hurt you.

396

SUNDIAL, EARLY 17th CENTURY.

Here a little, and there a little,

Upon this dial mine,

The hours from life I whittle,

Line upon line.

397

SUNDIAL, 20th CENTURY.

Remember me in all you do,

Whilst time is with us yet,

Let this a warning be to you,

Do not forget.

398

SUNDIAL ON YE OLDE WHITECHAPEL, WHITCLIFF, CLECKHEATON, YORKSHIRE.

Mourn not ye hour, nor look sad,

Thy life won’t bear such masking,

God gave ye hours to make us glad,

With pleasure for ye asking.

399

SUNDIAL AT LLANTYSILIS, NORTH WALES.

Mark thou the shadow as it goes,

Right forward to the end,

Then learn the lesson that it shows,

All life must thither wend.

400

SUNDIAL, 18th CENTURY.

Time is speeding fast away,

Love waits not for ever,

Lads and lasses, mark I pray,

When ’tis now or never.

401

ORIGINAL SKETCH FOR A LEAP YEAR DIAL.

Listen to my simple rhyme,

Telling hapless maids the time,

How each February three years fled

Women all may ask to wed.

402