American Old Time Song Lyrics: 15 The Water Mill

Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 15

THE WATER-MILL.

Listen to the water-mill all the livelong day,
To the creaking of the wheel as it wears the hours away;
Languidly the water glides tireless on and still.
Never coming back to that water-mill;
And a proverb haunts my mind as the spell is cast,
"That the mill will never grind with the water that has past."

Chorus.
And this proverb haunts my mind as the spell is o'er me cast,
"That the mill will never grind with the water that has past."

Oh, the wasted hours of life that have floated by.
Oh, the good we might have done, that's lost without a sigh;
Love that we might once have had, only for a word,
Thoughts conceived but never penned, perishing unheard;
Take the lesson to yourself, take it, hold it fast,
"That the mill will never grind with the water that has past." -Chorus.

Take the lesson to yourself, honest heart and true,
Golden years are passing by, and youth is passing, too;
Try to make the most of life, lose no honest way.
All that we can call our own lies in this to-day;
Power, intellect and strength may not, cannot last,
"For the mill will never grind with the water that has past." -Chorus.