Linger a While

Linger a while--

Why the haste?

You'll never regret

The time you waste

On an old friend.

This urgent errand

Will be forgot,

All trivial things

Will go to pot

Long, long before

Your memory of me

Has come to an end.

Linger a while--

Your work will keep,

Though you see it now

In a tangled heap

And the time is short.

This urgent chore

And a thousand more

Can be tidily done

When we two part.

Linger a while--

For the joy you seek

Will come again

With another week.

A bauble like that!

But there'll come

The Time

When the things we say

Will be but the memory

Of a day

We paused to chat.

Linger a while--

Though the hour is late,

And the dread of dawn

Is leaden weight

You would carry to bed.

Wake up, my firend,

For I tell you this:

One day you'll sit

And reminisce

On things we said.

Linger a while--

Lest the song of life

Goes all unheard

In the hectic strife

Of heart and hands.

For work begins

And play will end,

But the pleasant memory

Of a friend

Eternal stands.