V.8 Opportunity

Bald, naked, of a human shape,
With fleet wings ready to escape,
Upon a razor's edge his toes,
And lock that on his forehead grows--
Him hold, when seized, for goodness' sake,
For Jove himself cannot retake
The fugitive when once he's gone.
The picture that we here have drawn
Is Opportunity so brief.--
The ancients, in a bas-relief,
Thus made an effigy of Time,
That every one might use their prime;
Nor e'er impede, by dull delay,
Th' effectual business of to-day.