At the Bars of Memory and Other Poems/Let Me Live a While
LET ME LIVE A WHILE
Oh, let me live a little while;
A fleeting, changeful day;
And teach me how to laugh and smile
When skies grow cold and gray!
Oh, let me learn the lessons hard,
The tasks of life's long school,
And let me soothe the hands deep scarr'd
Of those who broke some rule!
Oh, let me say a word of cheer
To those who struggle by,
And let me dry another's tear
When sorrow's train is nigh!
Oh, let me ease some troubled heart
With a kind word or two,
And let me cool the ache and smart
Of wrongs some others do!
Oh, let me bear the heavy cross
Borne by some falt'ring man,
And let his gain become my loss
In life's fine sifting pan!
Oh, let me live a little while;
A fleeting, changeful day;
And may the heavens glow and smile
When I am laid away!