Scripture Verse

Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. Psalm 90:5–6

Introduction

Words: Lau­ra E. New­ell, in Son­nets of Praise, ed­it­ed by Em­mett S. Dean (Wa­co, Tex­as: Trio Mu­sic, 1907).

Music: George H. Ram­sey (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Ram­sey (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), or a bet­ter one of New­ell,

portrait
Laura E. Newell (1854–1916)

Lyrics

As the life of a flow­er,
As a breath or a sigh,
So the years that we live
As a dream hast­en by;
True, to­day we are here,
But to­mor­row may see
Just a grave in the vale,
And a me­mo­ry of me.

Refrain

As the life of a flow­er,
As a breath, or a sigh,
So the years glide away,
And alas, we must die.

As the life of a flow­er,
Be our lives pure and sweet;
May we bright­en the way
For the friends that we greet;
And sweet in­cense arise,
From our hearts as we live
Close to Him who doth teach
Us to love and for­give.

Refrain

While we tar­ry be­low
Let us trust and adore
Him who leads us each day
Tow’rd the ra­di­ant shore
Where the sun ne­ver sets,
And the flow­ers ne­ver fade,
Where no sor­row or death
May its bor­ders in­vade.

Refrain