The Old Man’s Prayer O Thou whose name is not from man, nor time, Who ever art the same, thy footsteps tread The verdant fields where wild the flowers climb, And softest winds, like love, go overhead. Beneath thy heaven, bright with the sun and stars, And washed with gentlest dews, I live and breathe; My earthly hours, they come not back to me, Yet grateful still, Lord, for the boon of breath. With the white breezes, like lilies on the sea, Thou art the breath of flowers, the wave-life free, And I, the child of nature, feel thy worth, Teach me thy ways, O great Creator, I!

• Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr