I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes.

I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes.

I cannot sing the old songs, Or dream those dreams again,

I cannot sing the old songs, Or dream those dreams again,

The Present is the living sum-total of the whole Past.

The Present is the living sum-total of the whole Past.

Study the past if you would divine the future.

Study the past if you would divine the future.

Praise they that will times past, I joy to see
My selfe now live: this age best pleaseth mee.

Praise they that will times past, I joy to see
My selfe now live: this age best pleaseth mee.

To look back to antiquity is one thing, to go back to it is another.

To look back to antiquity is one thing, to go back to it is another.

But how carve way i' the life that lies before,
If bent on groaning ever for the past?

But how carve way i' the life that lies before,
If bent on groaning ever for the past?

To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice.

To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice.

It's linkage I'm talking about, and harmonies and structures, And all the various things that lock our wrists to the read more

It's linkage I'm talking about, and harmonies and structures, And all the various things that lock our wrists to the past.