Only Remembered for what we have done - a reflective song

The words of "Only remembered" are attributed to Dr. Horatius Bonar, of Edinburgh; they appears in American hymnals of the mid-19th cent. The tune was composed by Ira Sankey in 1891. John Tams has adapted it and written alternative verses for War Horse and I was inspired by Coope Boyes and Simpson's version and the WW1 remembrance. However, for this I have gone back to 4 of the original verses, all with a secular theme. Sung by Alan Rosevear in Exeter.

ONLY REMEMBERED
Fading away like the stars in the morning,
Losing their light in the glorious sun,
Thus will we pass from this earth and its toiling,
Only remembered for what we have done.

Only remembered, only remembered,
Only remembered for what we have done,
Thus will we pass from this earth and its toiling,
Only remembered for what we have done.

Shall we be missed tho', when others succeed us,
Reaping the fields we in spring time have sown?
Nay, who ploughed and who sowed is not missed by the reaper,
We're only remembered by what we has done.
Chorus
Only the truth that in life we have spoken,
Only the seeds that on Earth we have sown,
These shall pass onward when we are forgotten,
Only remembered for what we have done.

Only remembered, only remembered,
Only remembered for what we have done,
These will pass onward when we are forgotten,
Only remembered for what we have done.

Up and away like the dew of the morning,
Soaring from earth to its home in the sun
Thus will we fade from this earth and our toiling
Only remembered for what we have done.
Chorus