And I was out once more in wind and weather,

Brother of larks and leaves and dewy ferns,

Friends of the road I had, we begged together,

And slept together, and tended fire by turns:

O, they were rare times, bitter times were they,

Winding the open road day after day!

And then I came to London.... Sick, half dead,

Crossing a street I shocked with dizzy pain,

With fury of sound, and darkness ... then in bed

I woke; there was a long white counterpane;