When life's fair dream has just passed awayto three sore years and tehn,Before we turn again to claythe lot of ortel men,'Tis wise a backward eye to cast on life's revolving scene,with calmness to review the pastand ask what we have been. The cradle and the mother's breasthave vanish'd from the mind,of joys the sweetest … Continue reading Retrospection by President John Quincy Adams

Alas! how swift the moments fly!How flash the years along!Scarce here, yet gone already by,The burden of a song.See childhood, youth, and manhood pass,And age, with furrowed brow;Time was—Time shall be—drain the glass—But where in Time is now? Time is the measure but of change;No present hour is found;The past, the future, fill the rangeOf … Continue reading The Hour-Glass by President John Quincy Adams