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"But 'tis only my very outside that dies,
For snug and warm in the ground there lies
The very germ of my life,
Wrapped away from the wintry storm and strife,
All ready, when Spring shall again be rife,
For a Summer of use to arise."

So a beautiful lesson I learned one day,
And I thought when I shall be old and gray,
If I can look back on the days that are gone,
And see, like my flowers, my duties well done,
I shall watch in peace life's setting sun,
And rejoice to pass away.

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