Evenings at Home; Or, The Juvenile Budget Opened

by John Aikin; Mrs. Barbauld

Cec. O yes;—and I have been told it is Time.

Pa. Well—and what do you make of it? Why is he old?

Cec. O! because he has lasted a long while.

Pa. And why has he wings?

Cec. Because Time is swift, and flies away.

Pa. What does his scythe mean?

Cec. I suppose it is because he destroys and cuts down everything, like Death.

Pa. True. I think, however, a weapon rather slower in operation, as a pick-axe, would have been more suitable to the gradual action of time. But what is his single lock of hair for?

Cec. I have been thinking, and cannot make it out.

Pa. I thought that would puzzle you. It relates to time as giving opportunity for doing anything. It is to be seized as it presents itself, or it will escape, and cannot be recovered. Thus the proverb says, “Take Time by the forelock.” Well—now you understand what emblems are.