How vain is all beneath the skies!

How transient every earthly bliss!

How slender all the fondest ties

That bind us to a world like this!

2 The evening cloud, the morning dew,

The withering grass, the fading flower,

Of earthly hopes are emblems true,

The glory of a passing hour.

3 But though earth’s fairest blossoms die,

And all beneath the skies is vain,

There is a brighter world on high,

Beyond the reach of care and pain.

4 Then let the hope of joys to come

Dispel our cares and chase our fears;

If God be ours, we’re traveling home,

Though passing through a vale of tears.