How quickly have the years all fled
My short lived day has reached its afternoon
Nay evening, the western sky is tinged with red
And there are shadows in the east, so soon

I can't have lived these golden days
They are but dreams, that flicker through my head
And all those secret pathways
Have I learned to where they've led

Yes I have learned, and all those faces
That smile at me, and beckon me along
I still seem to hear their voices
And the cadence of their song

I used to play the games they play
Now I but watch them from afar, here in my chair
I used to laugh the whole day long
As they all do, without a care

And though I try to stem the tears they shed
Like drops of rain that wet their eyes
My fancy still recalls the words they said
And memory, a blessed forgetfulness denies

Like as the moon which seems to race across the sky
When wind blown clouds sweep o'er it's shining face
My seventy years have passed as quickly by
And each day now speeds on the headlong pace