The tyme, that may not sojourne But goth, and never may retourne, As water that down runneth ay, But never drope retourne may; Ther may no-thing as tyme endure, Metal, nor erthely creature; For alle thing it fret, and shal: The tyme eek, that chaungeth al, And all doth waxe and fostred be, And alle thing destroyeth he.
The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Volume 4), The Romaunt of the Rose