I.
Gone,O gentle heart and true,Friend of hopes foregone,Hopes and hopeful days with you Gone?
Days of old that shone Saw what none shall see anew,When we gazed thereon.
Soul as clear as sunlit dew,Why so soon pass on,Forth from all we loved and knew Gone?
II.
Friend of many a season fled,What may sorrow send Toward thee now from lips that said 'Friend'?
Sighs and songs to blend Praise with pain uncomforted Though the praise ascend?
Darkness hides no dearer head:
Why should darkness end Day so soon,O dear and dead Friend?
III.
Dear in death,thou hast thy part Yet in life,to cheer Hearts that held thy gentle heart Dear.
Time and chance may sear Hope with grief,and death may part Hand from hand's clasp here:
Memory,blind with tears that start,Sees through every tear All that made thee,as thou art,Dear.
IV.
True and tender,single-souled,What should memory do Weeping o'er the trust we hold True?
Known and loved of few,But of these,though small their fold,Loved how well were you!