Since life is a journey, a birth-day 'tis clear
Is a stage where we stop and look back on the year,
Where we greet our companions and bid them God speed,
And scatter with roses the path where they tread;
Be yours with the sunshine of health ever gay;
May affection and duty still sweeten your way;
May you double the number which now you enjoy,
If the road will not tire, and the views will not cloy;
May those you most love travel with you each stage,
And the friends of your youth be the friends of your age.
In the uphills and downhills, and cross-roads of life,
May you ever jog on without care, without strife;
May good-humour and mirth still spontaneously flow,
And the prospects still brighten as onward you go,
Till the road growing dull, and the shades gathering fast,
You meet a good inn, and sweet rest at the last.