Sore and sad has been my heart
Since I laid him to his rest;
Hard, hard has been the path
That my weary feet have prest;
But the path is shorter now,
And the end is growing plain,
And it won't be very long
Till I see his face again.

The world was bright and glad
When he walked beside me here,
And if e'er a trouble came,
Or I ever shed a tear,
He smiled the cloud away
With a single sunny glance,
Till my soul was full of joy,
And my heart began to dance.

When I walk alone, at night,
In the paths that he has known,
I can hear his little footsteps
Falling softly by my own,
And his hand is clasped in mine,
And his voice thrills the air,
And it breaks my heart afresh
That there's only shadow there.

But the trees are turning brown
And the sky is gray and cold,
And my locks are silver white
And my world and I are old;
And there's silence all around me,
And sunset in the west;
And it won't be very long
Till I lay me down to rest.