Our union was to be
Not only for a lifetime here,
But for eternity.

Thus peacefully we passed along
Till that eventful day
When all the labor of our hands
Like chaff was swept away:
We saw our home made desolate,
Our pleasant cottage sold;
Men called us poor, but we were rich
In better things than gold.

For we had lived an honest life;
We could look up and say:
We never wronged a fellow-man,
Nor turned the poor away.
We held a treasure in our arms
Which every care beguiled;
He never sorrowed, never sinned--
For Jesus took the child.

There is a little mound of earth
Where, when the spring appears,
We watch the budding violets,
And water them with tears.
Oh, it were more than earthly love
That soothed a parent's woe
When there we laid our darling down,
Full twenty years ago!