What is life! ’Tis a vanish vapor;
Appearing and passing away;
The flame of perishing taper,
That dies at the dawning of day.

As short as a mist in the morning;
As weak as a flower on its stem;
As frail as the dew drops adorning,
That transient and beautiful gem.

The wind whistles – the vapor has vanished;
Day dawns and the taper expires;
The sun shines, and the mist is all banished
And fled from the warmth of his fires.

The tree in its beauty has perished,
The dew is exhaled from its flowers,
And that in life which we had cherished,
Is gone with the fast fleeting hours.

So frail is our youth and our beauty,
So soon will they wither and fade,
And the voice that invites to our duty,
Shall summon us soon to the dead.

Whatever of wealth or of pleasure,
We seek to secure as our own;
Appear but to tell us the measure
Of moments eternally flown.

See, time like an eagle, is flying;
Eternity follows his train;
His path with the dead and the dying
Is strewed, and shall soon be again.

The votaries of joy and sorrow,
His victims alike must deplore;
And the place that now knows them, tomorrow
Shall know them forever no more.

Ah! then to the fountain, overflowing,
So sweetly with mercy above –
Where Christ is forever bestowing
The balm of his infinite love.

When life everlasting is springing,
And nothing can hurt or dismay,
When angels their anthems are singing,
Oh! then let us hasten away.

Now ready he stands to receive us,
And give us a mansion of peace;
From sin and from death to retrieve us;
Till anguish and sorrow shall cease.

Oh! banish our error and blindness,
Till we thy salvation behold;
And draw us with infinite kindness,
And gather us into thy fold.

Author: Elder G. Ambrose.

Signs of the Times
Volume 27, Number 5; March 1, 1859

Below are the songs that were made from the poem using AI. They are identified
by the genre of the music in paranthesis.