A Good Man
James Whitcomb Riley
I
A good man never dies –
In worthy deed and prayer
And helpful hands, and honest eyes,
If smiles or tears be there:
Who lives for you and me –
Lives for the world he tries
To help – he lives eternally.
A good man never dies.
II
Who lives to bravely take
His share of toil and stress,
And, for his weaker fellows’ sake,
Makes every burden less, –
He may, at last, seem worn –
Lie fallen – hands and eyes
Folded – yet, though we mourn and mourn,
A good man never dies.