Do you remember, passer-by, the path <br />I wore across the lot where now stands the opera house, <br />Hasting with swift feet to work through many years? <br />Take its meaning to heart: <br />You too may walk, after the hills at Miller's Ford <br />Seem no longer far away; <br />Long after you see them near at hand, <br />Beyond four miles of meadow; <br />And after woman's love is silent, <br />Saying no more: "I will save you." <br />And after the faces of friends and kindred <br />Become as faded photographs, pitifully silent, <br />Sad for the look which means: "We cannot help you." <br />And after you no longer reproach mankind <br />With being in league against your soul's uplifted hands -- <br />Themselves compelled at midnight and at noon <br />To watch with steadfast eye their destinies; <br />After you have these understandings, think of me <br />And of my path, who walked therein and knew <br />That neither man nor woman, neither toil, <br />Nor duty, gold nor power <br />Can ease the longing of the soul, <br />The loneliness of the soul!<br /><br />Edgar Lee Masters<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/james-garber/
