and all the ling'ring bandstand echoes fade,

when trodden stage has long been taken down,

to last well-wisher farewell fondly bade,

 

it's then the unglimps'd future opens wide,

to swallow down its maw the carefree soul,

who--close-held former heart-bonds now untied--

is cast adrift from ravell'd, whilom whole.

 

No glorious banner-waving clarion call

still extant on that farthest misty rise--

the longest, most beshadowed road of all

unfurls 'neath the soles of those unworldly-wise.

 

Look not for distant light at journey's end;

upon thine flick'ring flame thou must depend.