auld acquaintance

can two as we ever be apart

who stood victory and defeat in the line

does a childhood companionship ever lose the heart

in the narrow dust strewn alleyways of time

 

for when the world in ardour sings your praise

and men in suits chant in the streets your name

i'll sit at home and scorn the public craze

and guess you must account it quite a game

 

and when you hear of my great worldly failing

will you not as few others can

think he may perhaps have willed and worked it so

i knew him once and he was such a man

in the morning of the world i called him friend