We Were Boys Together.

We were boys together,

And never can forget

The school-house near the heather,

In childhood where we met;

The humble home to memory dear,

Its sorrows and its joys;

Where woke the transient smile or tear,

When you and I were boys.

We were youths together,

And castles built in air,

Your heart was like a feather,

And mine weighed down with care;

To you came wealth with manhood's prime,

To me it brought alloys —

Foreshadowed in the primrose time.

When you and I were boys.

We're old men together —

The friends we loved of yore,

With leaves of autumn weather,

Are gone for evermore.

How blest to age the impulse given,

The hope time ne'er destroys —

Which led our thoughts from earth to heaven,

When you and I were boys!