And now out in the lonely road I stand,

Where echoes drearily the ceaseless tread

Of stranger footsteps, slow and burdensome—

I am forgot and empty is each hand,

Save for the dust of roses witherèd,

Yet still I wait for you who never come.

A Postlude

If only in your life to live, might I

Perchance those broken chords with my own meet,

Though quite imperfect, yet but thus to try