Should the lone wanderer, fainting on his way,
Rest for a moment of the sultry hours
And though his path through thorns and roughness lay,
Pluck the wild rose or woodbine's gadding flowers;
Weaving gay wreaths beneath some sheltering tree,
The sense of sorrow he awhile may lose;
So have l sought thy flowers, fair poesy
So charmed my way with friendship and the muse.
But darker now grows life's unhappy day,
Dark with new clouds of evil yet to come:
Her pencil sickening fancy throws away
And weary hope reclines upon the tomb;
And points my wishes to that tranquil shore
Where the pale spectre care pursues no more.
This work was published before January 1, 1927, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.