To my friend, on his birthday
Oh, Time! deal gently with my friend,
Who gently deals with all;
And on his loved and honored head
Let blessings only fall
In love to God, and love to man,
His days pass here below;
And so, to reach the home above,
He has not far to go.
But distant be that hapless day
That calls him from our view:
Heaven has so many souls like his,
And Earth, alas! so few
This work was published before January 1, 1926, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.