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Divider from 'The Snug Bit of Land in the Ocean', a chapbook printed in Glasgow in 1800

FATHER DENNIS'S COMFORT.

YOU are old, Father Dennis, the young man said,
 your locks that are left, are quite grey;
You are hale, Father Dennis, a hearty old man;
 now tell me the reason, I pray.

In the days of my youth, Father Dennis reply'd,
 I remember'd that youth would fly fast:
And abus'd not my health nor my vigour at first,
 that I never might want them at last.

You are old, Father Dennis, the young man said,
 and pleasures with youth pass away,
And yet you regret not the days that are gone,
 now tell me the reason, I pray.

In the days of my youth Father Dennis reply'd,
 I remember'd that youth could not last;
I thought of the future whatever I did,
 that I never might grieve for the past.

You are old, Father Dennis, the young man said,
 and life must be hastening away,
You're chearful, and love to converse upon death,
 now tell me the reason, I pray.

I am chearful indeed, Father Dennis reply'd,
 let the cause thy attention engage;
In the days of my youth, I remember'd my God,
 and he has not forgotten my age.

Glasgow, Printed by J & M Robertson,
Saltmarket, 1800.