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LIFE.
When trials gather thick and fast, When angry clouds arise,And drape their shadows quite across Our bending, sunny skies;When not a gleam of light we see Shine from a shrouded sky,How wearily we count the days, And even wish to die!
When death has stilled the loving heart That throbbed against our own,Or paled the leaflets of the rose That bloomed for us alone;When we have stood beside the grave Of husband or of wife,In that sad hour of wretchedness "O tell me, what is life?"
Who can recall the dreams and hopes Of youth's unclouded day,And weep not over treasures lost And pleasures swept away?Yet in our mortal path we find Sweet, ever-blooming flowers,That bud and blossom even in Our latest dying hours.
