Late Lyrics and Earlier

First or Last (Song)

If grief come early
   Joy comes late,
   If joy come early
   Grief will wait;
      Aye, my dear and tender!

Wise ones joy them early
While the cheeks are red,
Banish grief till surly
Time has dulled their dread.

And joy being ours
   Ere youth has flown,
   The later hours
   May find us gone;
      Aye, my dear and tender!