18 Poems About Time

A collection of poems that remind us to treasure and use time wisely.

Time is life’s quiet teacher - how we use it reveals what truly matters.

Short Poems & Quotes  |   Poems Of Encouragement  |   Poems About Time

Updated April 3, 2025, by Catherine Pulsifer



  1. When I Have Time

    Poet: Miriam Brown

    When I have time so many things I'll do
    To make life happier and more fair
    For those whose lives are crowded now with care;
    I'll help to lift them from their low despair,
    When I have time.

    When I have the time the friend I love so well
    Shall know no more these weary toiling days;
    I'll lead her feet in pleasant paths always,
    And cheer her heart with words of sweetest praise,
    When I have time.

    When you have time! The friend you hold so dear
    May be beyond the reach of all your sweet intent;
    May never know that you so kindly meant
    To fill her life with sweet content,
    When you had time.

    Now is the time! Ah, friend, no longer wait
    To scatter loving smiles and words of cheer
    To those around whose lives are now so dear;
    They may not need you in the coming year
    Now is the time.




  2. Time, A Precious Thing

    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

    Time is fleeting, such a precious thing
    We should never take it for granted
    Use it wisely and time will bring
    Success where you are planted.

    Life is but a brief candle that soon melts away
    Do not waste your time procrastinating each day
    There is no knowing if tomorrow may be
    So live your life and seize all opportunities!




  3. No Time For God

    Poet: Unknown

    No time for God?
    What fools we are to clutter up
    Our lives with common things
    And leave without heart’s gate
    The Lord of Life and life itself,
    Our God!

    No time for God?
    As soon to say no time
    to eat, sleep, love or die.
    Take time for God
    or you shall dwarf your soul,

    And when the death angel
    Comes knocking at your door
    A poor misshapen thing you’ll be
    To step into eternity

    No time for God?
    That day when sickness
    Comes or trouble finds you out,
    And you cry out to God,
    Will He have time for you?

    No time for God?
    Some day you’ll lay aside
    This mortal self and make your way
    To worlds unknown
    And when you meet Him face to face,
    Will He - should He -
    Have time for you?



  4. Take each moment and make it count In all you do, let kindness mount Make time for faith, for love, for grace Each day’s a gift—don’t let it waste



  5. Now

    Poet: Sarah Knowles Bolton

    Forget the past and live the present hour;
    Now is the time to work, the time to fill
    The soul with noblest thoughts, the time to will
    Heroic deeds, to use whatever dower
    Heaven has bestowed, to test our utmost power.
    Now is the time to live, and, better still,
    To serve our loved ones; over passing ill

    To rise triumphant; thus the perfect flower
    Of life shall come to fruitage; wealth amass
    For grandest giving ere the time be gone.
    Be glad to-day--to-morrow may bring tears;
    Be brave to-day; the darkest night will pass
    And golden days will usher in the dawn;
    Who conquers now shall rule the coming years.





  6. More poems that relate to time:

    A New Day Poem

    Poems About Waiting

    Poems About Procrastination

    Poems About God's Timing




  7. The Hours

    Poet: Christopher Pearse Cranch

    The hours are viewless angels,
    That still go gliding by,
    And bear each minute's record up
    To him who sits on high;
    And we who walk among them,
    As one by one departs,
    See not that they are hovering
    Forever round our hearts.

    Like summer bees that hover
    Around the idle flowers,
    They gather every act and thought,
    Those viewless angel-hours;
    The poison or the nectar
    The heart's deep flower cups yield,
    A sample still they gather swift,
    And leave us in the field.

    And some flit by on pinions
    Of joyous gold and blue,
    And some flag on with drooping wing
    Of sorrow's darker hue;
    But still they steal the record
    And bear it far away;
    Their mission-flight, by day and night,
    No magic power can stay.

    And as we spend each minute
    That God to us has given,
    The deeds are known before his throne,
    The tale is told in heaven.
    Those bee-like hours we see not,
    Nor hear their noiseless wings;
    We often feel--too oft--when flown
    That they have left their stings.

    So teach me, heavenly Father,
    To meet each flying hour,
    That as they go they may not show
    My heart a poison flower!
    So, when death brings its shadows,
    The hours that linger last
    Shall bear my hopes on angels' wings,
    Unfettered by the past.




  8. How It Flies

    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

    Never take for granted - time
    Who says you will have tomorrow?
    Don't put off living today
    Otherwise, you may find sorrow.

    Never waste it - time
    It is precious and goes by fast.
    When you're young you
    Forever you think it will last.

    But, time goes by
    In a flash of an eye.
    And as we get older
    We understand how it flies.



  9. Never take for granted - time  Who says you will have tomorrow?



  10. Make Haste, O Man! To Live

    Poet: Horatius Bonar

    Make haste, O man! to live,
    For thou so soon must die;
    Time hurries past thee like the breeze;
    How swift its moments fly.
    Make haste, O man! to live.

    Make haste, O man! to do
    Whatever must be done,
    Thou hast no time to lose in sloth,
    Thy day will soon be gone.
    Make haste, O man! to live.

    To breathe, and wake, and sleep,
    To smile, to sigh, to grieve,
    To move in idleness through earth,
    This, this is not to live.
    Make haste, O man! to live.

    The useful, not the great;
    The thing that never dies,
    The silent toil that is not lost,
    Set these before thine eyes.
    Make haste, O man! to live.

    Make haste, O man! to live.
    Thy time is almost o'er;
    Oh! sleep not, dream not, but arise,
    The Judge is at the door.
    Make haste, O man! to live.




  11. A Hint To Time-Killers

    Poet: John Kendrick Bangs

    I'm sorry for the feller with a pocket full o' pelf
    Whose sole idee o' killin' time is killin' of hisself.
    Some on us has so little time I sort o' wish the cuss
    Who's killin' it would let it live, and send it on to us.




  12. Time Is

    Poet: Henry VanDyke

    Time is
    Too slow for those who wait,
    Too swift for those who fear,
    Too long for those who grieve,
    Too short for those who rejoice,
    But for those who love, time is
    Eternity.




  13. Time Keeps Trucking

    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

    Time moves ever so sloooww,
    At least I think when I'm feeling blue
    Soon it's mid-day and coffee to brew,
    And then the day seems to fly by too!

    Can't make time go faster no matter what!
    No matter what there's nothing I can do,
    Other times, the hours have flown like a jet.
    As time keeps on trucking through!




  14. Thievish Time

    Poet: Charles Mackay

    Thou shalt not rob me, thievish Time,
    Of all my blessings or my joy;
    I have some jewels in my heart
    Which thou art powerless to destroy.

    Thou mayest denude mine arm of strength,
    And leave my temples seamed and bare;
    Deprive mine eyes of passion's light,
    And scatter silver o'er my hair.

    But never, while a book remains,
    And breathes a woman or a child,
    Shalt thou deprive me whilst I live
    Of feelings fresh and undefiled.

    No, never while the earth is fair,
    And Reason keeps its dial bright,
    Whate'er thy robberies, O Time,
    Shall I be bankrupt of delight.

    Whate'er thy victories o'er my frame,
    Thou canst not cheat me of this truth:
    That, though the limbs may faint and fail,
    The spirit can renew its youth.

    So, thievish Time, I fear thee not;
    Thou'rt powerless on this heart of mine;
    My precious jewels are my own,
    'Tis but the settings that are thine.




  15. Time Passes

    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

    Time passes, as we age along with it,
    Through victory and defeat, we learn its secret:

    Patience is a tool to use when faced with fate.
    In moments of doubt and fear, allowing time to operate.

    Though waiting can seem unbearable for some,
    Young and old must learn to be still, succumb;

    The knowledge of patience cannot be rushed or bartered.
    The hardest of lessons take the longest to be nurtured.

    Allowing time its due shows wisdom beyond capacity,
    And in patience learned here lies life's modesty.




  16. There Is A Time

    By Walter E. Isenhour

    There is a time to work and play,
    A time to eat and sleep;
    A time to study and to pray,
    A time to laugh and week;
    A time for fellowship that's sweet,
    A time for sacred song;
    But never is there time to treat
    A human being wrong.

    There is a time to lift men up
    And help them on life's road;
    A time to drain their bitter cup
    vAnd share their heave load;
    A time to bless them with our grace
    And boost them all along;
    But never is there time and place
    To treat our fellows wrong.

    There is a time to help men seek
    Our God who saves the soul;
    A time to show them that the meek
    Shall reach life's highest goal;
    A time to help them turn aside
    And leave the wicked throng;
    But never did our God provide
    A time to treat men wrong.




  17. A Race Of Time

    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

    My birthday’s come around again
    Another year I can’t defend
    My age has added one more score
    This fact is a bit of a bore.

    The years just keep flying on by
    Leaving behind a hefty sigh
    But I'll put on a happy face
    And not cry over "time" and its race.





  18. Poems About Time and Age:

    Poems on Aging

    Funny Birthday Poems

    Poetry about Life and Death





  19. Now Is The Time

    Poet: Unknown

    If you have a word of praise,
    Now's the time!
    Should the sky, while flowers are growing,
    Stint its gracious dew-bestowing.
    Ne'er would come the rainbow glowing
    Blossom time.

    If you have a kiss to give,
    Now's the time!
    Lips, like flowers, soon are faded.
    Life-blood pallid, checked, and jaded,
    If they are not love-o'ershaded,
    Kissed in time.

    If you have a prayer to pray,
    Now's the time!
    Not to every hour are given
    Upward look and open heaven;
    Oh, be strengthened, gladdened, shriven.
    While there's time!



  20. Time hurries past thee like the breeze; How swift its moments fly.
    Time Quotes



  21. Time

    Poet: Herrick

    Gather ye rosebuds as ye may.
    Old Time is still a flying;
    And this same flower that smiles to-day
    To-morrow will be dying.

    The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
    The higher he's a getting
    The sooner will his race be run.
    And nearer he's to setting.

    The age is best which is the first.
    When youth and blood are warmer;
    But being spent, the worse and worst
    Time still succeed the former.

    Then be not coy; but use your time,
    And while ye may go many;
    For, having lost but once your prime.
    You may forever tarry.




  22. God's Time

    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

    Time is fleeting, ever speeding
    What we know of it here on Earth
    Is different than what's known above
    Our perspective when viewed from His perch.

    God knows all and understands
    His timing is perfect and the best
    He has plans that stretch beyond our knowledge
    And so to Him, we must trust and rest.

    When we let go of control
    Though confusing, it can be freeing
    For God’s timing will lead us home.
    We need to have faith and remain believing.




  23. Time Is Swift

    Poet: Unknown

    Pluck the rose while blooming;
    Now 'tis fresh and bright;
    Wait not till to-morrow;
    Time is swift in flight.

    Do thy deeds of kindness
    Ere to-morrow's light;
    What may come, we know not;
    Time is swift in flight.

    Would'st thou make life useful.
    Work before 'tis night;
    Else thou'lt be regretting.
    Time is swift in flight.


Related Pages:

Difficult Times Quotes - When time feels heavy and days seem long, these quotes remind us that struggles don’t last—hope and strength can carry us through.

Poems About Life Struggles - Time brings both trials and triumphs; these poems offer encouragement for those moments when life feels like an uphill climb.

If Poems - In the passage of time, “if” often marks a turning point—these poems inspire wise choices and steady hearts along the way.

Patience Poem - Time teaches patience, and this poem gently reminds us that waiting can bring growth, peace, and purpose.

Christmas Time Is - As time circles back to Christmas each year, this poem captures the joy and meaning that the season brings to our hearts.

Life Journey Poems - Time moves like a winding road—these poems reflect on the steps we take, the lessons we learn, and the beauty of the journey.

Procrastination Quotes - Time slips away when we delay—these quotes offer gentle nudges to act now and make the most of each day.


As you come to the end of these poems about time, may you feel inspired to reflect on how you spend your moments, your hours, and your days. Each poem has gently reminded us that time is a gift—one we cannot pause, rewind, or hold on to.

We all have the same twenty-four hours, yet how we choose to use them shapes the life we live. Do we take time for the people who matter—our family, our friends? Do we pause to connect with God, to pray, to be still? Do we make room for the things that truly matter, or do we let busyness steal our days?

Let the words of these poets remain with you. May they serve as a quiet reminder that while we cannot control time, we can choose how we live within it. Live wisely, love freely, and make each moment count.



Time slips by, but how we spend it leaves a mark—make yours one of love, purpose, and faith.

More Poems Of Encouragement to Inspire



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Some of the poems featured on this page were written by these renowned poets. Click their names to learn more about them and their timeless works:

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