Classic Poem

Life is a vapor , how brief is its stay!
Vanishing, vanishing, passing away;
Life is a flower that springs in the morn,
Fading, O, fading, no more to return;
Life is an arrow , how swift is its flight,
Life is the rose tint that fades into night;
Lord, may our lives in Thy service be given,
Fading on earth, but immortal in Heaven.

Teach us the worth of the vanishing time,
Make every life, in its purpose, sublime;
Virtue and innocence, charity's dower,
Merciful Father, bestow us with power;
Patient and strong to endure to the end,
Hopeful and faithful and true to each friend;
Lord, may our lives in Thy service be given,
Fading on earth, but immortal in Heaven.