The days grow shorter, the nights grow longer,
    The headstones thicken along the way;
And life grows sadder but love grows stronger,
    For those who walk with us day by day.
The tear comes quicker, the laugh comes slower,
    The courage is lesser to do and dare;
And the tide of joy in the heart runs lower
    And seldom covers the reefs of care.
But all true things in the world seem truer,
    And the better things of the earth seem best,
And friends are dearer as friends are fewer,
    And love is all as our sun dips west.
Then let us clasp hands as we walk together,
    And let us speak softly, in love's sweet tone;
For no man knows on the morrow whether
    We two pass on--or but one alone!

                                               By Ella Wheeler Wilcox