The ages come, the ages go
Who knows to where the ages flow?
And swept along into the past
We come, our lives like to a raft
Lashed together as we go
On to where the ages flow

We spend our lives concerned with selves
We do not care about the shells
Upon the shores of time's great river
Events which change the flow from hither
to thither, we care not of the others
in our raft, our friends and brothers
we care not where the great rafts go
on to where the ages flow

And is this right? Should this be so?
Does it matter where we go?
Should we try to guide our course?
Against the flowing river's force
Should we take our course to heart?
So even though our raft soon parts
And crumbles to the river's floor
Our children should find all the more
Courses, paths and streams to follow
So they have more in the morrow
So they guide to whence they go
On to where the ages flow

The answer's not in any doubt
To make our rafts more strong and stout
They must get better paths to take
And once upon them they can make
A million changes to the flow
On to where the ages go

So make your children's lives mean more
And cast your shells upon the shore.