I met a man the other day-
A kindly man, and serious-
Who viewed me in a thoughtful way,
And spoke me so, and spoke me thus:
“Oh, dallying's a sad mistake;
'Tis craven to survey the morrow!
Go give your heart, and if it break-
A wise companion is Sorrow.
“Oh, live, my child, nor keep your soul
To crowd your coffin when you're dead….”
I asked his work; he dealt in coal,
And shipped it up the Tyne, he said.