"On Time"

by John Milton

1608–1674

FLY, envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets' pace;
And glut thyself with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more than what is false and vain,
And merely mortal dross;
So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.
For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd,
And last of all, thy greedy self consum'd,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;
And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When every thing that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine,
With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
About the supreme Throne
Of Him, t'whose happy-making sight alone,
When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall climb,
Then all this earthly grossness quit,
Attir'd with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.

* * * * * * * *

From a message board that discusses the above poem in the video game: Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific. The message is by NIMITZ1967, and provides an interesting analysis of the poem when superimposing it onto the submarine war by the U.S.A. against the Empire of Japan in WWII, even though the poem was written sometime in the 17th century!!! :

Oh man....

This poem is one of the 'beaut' things about SH4...the poem actually puts you in a contemplative mood about the nature of time....the sub itself is invited to....

"Fly........till thou run out thy race...."


The next four lines reflect the nature of time as a relative thing.......and relating to sub warfare, it suggests that you fill your hearts with love and enjoy the moment.....for time itself is fleeting , and these moments may not come again for the warrior submariner....And the time itself between all this may well drag, but

"So little is they loss...
So little is thy gain...."


The next four lines remind us that, in waiting for time to pass, and reflecting on the moments that we do, we make, or should make, attempts to clear our minds of doubt, of FEAR for the task ahead.....

"Then long eternity shall greet our bliss...
with an individual kiss...."

Having composed and calmed ourselves, we look to the nature of time for our enemies....the graphic makes it plain that a very long eternity awaits those we have blessed with our 'kiss'....

And of course, when the time for that 'kiss' arrives, the tension breaks...

"And joy shall overtake us as in a flood...."

How many times have you been overtaken in a flood of joy by a successful attack....there exists many examples of submariners doing just that, cheering and backslapping.....and contemplating the very nature of life and death as grateful survivors...for now, they thank the God that made it possible, and talk of happy times around the wardroom....The final lines reflect this very victory over time....time that, for the submariner, is always fleeting, never to be taken for granted.....and the feeling when you beat the clock for ANOTHER ROUND....

"Triumphing over Death, chance...and thee, Oh Time."

Milton’s themes of time and it's very relationship to human beings is beautifully and poetically expressed by this poem...

Whoever chose it chose well...it sends shivers down my spine, every time

To see the intro to Silent Hunter 4 and hear the poem,

click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSTRSqsm1VY