I’ve trod the way my whole life long,

And know not now where it may be;

My guide is but the stir to song,

That tells me I cannot go wrong,

Or clear or dark the pathway be

Upon the road to Arcady.

But how shall I do who cannot sing?

I was wont to sing, once on a time—

There is never an echo now to ring

Remembrance back to the trick of rhyme.