I.
Let us love one another,—not long may we stay;
In this bleak world of mourning some droop while 't is day,
Others fade in their noon, and few linger till eve:
Oh! there breaks not a heart but leaves some one to grieve;
And the fondest, the purest, the truest that met,
Have still found the need to forgive and forget!
Then, ah! though the hopes that we nourished decay,
Let us love one another as long as we stay.
II.
There are hearts, like the ivy, though all be decayed,
That it seemed to clasp fondly in sunlight and shade;
No leaves droop in sadness, still gaily they spread,
Undimmed 'midst the blighted, the lonely, and dead:
But the mistletoe clings to the oak, not in part,
But with leaves closely round it—the root in its heart;
Exists but to twine it,—imbibe the same dew,—
Or to fall with its loved oak, and perish there too.
III.
Thus, let's love one another 'midst sorrows the worst,
Unaltered and fond, as we loved at the first;
Though the false wing of pleasure may change and forsake,
And the bright urn of wealth into particles break,
There are some sweet affections that wealth cannot buy,
That cling but still closer when sorrow draws nigh,
And remain with us yet, though all else pass away;
Thus, let's love one another as long as we stay.
