And the sun of our lives fast was finding its day,
When we stood on that line where youth's journey was done,
And our manhood and womanhood scarce had begun,
When the word was no longer "How happy are we!"
But "What can we suffer, and conquer, and be?"
When the prairies of youth, with fresh flowers covered o'er,
And all shaded with groves, were our playgrounds no more;
And mountains stepped into the mist, from afar,
And over the highest one's top, gleamed a star,
'Twas whispered to us, "If those heights you ascend,