Athwart my path that long-gone day,
And yet I weakly let it lie,—
Just turned aside and passed it by,
Nor thought what the result might be.
Then others came who saw my track,
But no one moved the hindrance back,
So they, too, stepped out on the sod;
And many a weary foot has trod
The devious way first traced by me.
We reach at last the self-same goal,