Pieces People Ask For/Never Too Late

by Ernest McGaffey

NEVER TOO LATE.

There is a good and a bad in the wayside inns
On the highways of our lives,
And man can never be free from sins,
No matter how hard he strives;
Yet even when down destruction's grade
Our thorny pathways trend,
In spite of a thousand errors made,
"It is never too late to mend."

There are crosses heavy for men to bear,
And passions to conquer too;
There are joys and woes that each must share
Before the journey is through;
But men may be poor for honor's sake,
And truth and right defend,
And hope will never this promise break,—
"It is never too late to mend."

'Tis never too late for a noble deed;
For, blessed by the angels' tears,
It plants in the breasts of men a seed
That will grow in after years;
And words of kindness, of hope, and cheer,
Will always comfort lend:
We must live for love, and banish fear,—
"It is never too late to mend."

It is never too late to mend, my lad,
No matter what people say;
And no man's nature is wholly bad,
Even if old and gray:
And in our journey toward the grave,
Until we reach the end,
There is time to change, and time to save,—
"It is never too late to mend."

Ernest McGaffey.