Samuil Marshak
On every clock this message you can find...

On every clock this message you can find —
Its simple words a truth profound contains —
Who squanders time, casts honour to the wind,
Though Time expires, your conscience will remain.

It dwells within the soul, not heeding hours;
Repentance always comes a bit too late,
While honour points towards the fleeting hours
With outstretched finger, like the hand of fate.

To keep your conscience from reproaches free,
Lose not one hour, however brief it be;
Just as at noon the clock's two hands together stand,
Let honour always go with conscience hand-in-hand.

Translated by Louis Zelikoff