1 When I do count the clock that tells the time,
When I count the clock that measures time, When I watch the clock ticking, counting down to death
2 And see the brave day sunk in hideous night,
And watch the beautiful day sink into hideous night, and see the gorgeous day destroyed by darkness, light dying into dark
3 When I behold the violet past prime,
When I see the violet past its peak, When I see flowers fading, flowers past their best
4 And sable curls all silvered o’er with white:
And dark hair all turned silver with age, black hair turning white, black hair turns white
5 When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
When I see tall trees stripped bare of leaves, when I see great trees suddenly leafless, trees losing all their leaves
6 Which erst from heat did canopy the herd
Which once provided shade from the heat for livestock, that once sheltered everything from the sun, that once shaded everything
7 And summer’s green all girded up in sheaves
And summer's green all bound up in bundles summer's growth all bundled and packed away, summer's life tied up
8 Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard:
Carried on a funeral bier, white and dry as aged stubble, carried away like a corpse, dead and withered. death carrying it all away
9 Then of thy beauty do I question make
Then I start to question your beauty— Then I start to wonder about you— i wonder about your beauty
10 That thou among the wastes of time must go,
That you too will fall into time's wasteland. whether you can escape time's destruction. if you'll survive time's attack
11 Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake,
Since beautiful things abandon themselves, Because beautiful things vanish of their own accord, beauty destroys itself
12 And die as fast as they see others grow,
And die as quickly as new beauty appears. dying as new things bloom. dying as new things start
Volta Moves from relentless catalogue of decay to revealing the single antidote: breeding, or procreation, is the only defense against time's scythe.
13 And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defence
And nothing can defend against time's scythe, There's no defense against time's reaper— nothing stops time's blade
14 Save breed to brave him, when he takes thee hence.
Except having children to defy him when he takes you away. except children who stand against it after you're gone. just having kids that survive