As we the withered ferns
       &nbsp By the roadway lying,
Time, the jester, spurns
       &nbsp All our prayers and prying —
       &nbsp All our tears and sighing,
Sorrow, change, and woe —
       &nbsp All our where-and-whying
For friends that come and go.

Life awakes and burns,
       &nbsp Age and death defying,
Till at last it learns
       &nbsp All but Love is dying;
       &nbsp Love's the trade we're plying,
God has willed it so;
       &nbsp Shrouds are what we're buying
For friends that come and go.

Man forever yearns
       &nbsp For the thing that's flying.
Everywhere he turns,
       &nbsp Men to dust are drying, —
       &nbsp Dust that wanders, eying
(With eyes that hardly glow)
       &nbsp New faces, dimly spying
For friends that come and go.

       &nbsp       &nbsp       &nbsp ENVOY

And thus we all are nighing
       &nbsp The truth we fear to know:
Death will end our crying
       &nbsp For friends that come and go.