My dear, the bard his greeting sends,
And wishes you and all your friends,
A happy birthday meeting.
Let social pleasures crown the day,
But while you chase dull care away,
Remember time is fleeting.
Then learn the lesson of this day,
Another year has pass’d away,
Beyond our reach forever.
And as the fleeting moments glide,
They bear us on their noiseless tide,
Like straws upon the river,
Into that vast, unfathomed sea,
Marked on the map “eternity,”
With neither bound nor shore.
There may we find some blissful isle
Where basking in our Saviour’s smile,
We’ll meet to part no more.