Classic Poem

So long you walked upon the selfsame way —
The crooked pathSof many a night and day —
You, who have passed the pitfalls and the snares,
Could you not warn me where I went astray?

O child, did I not call — my fears, my prayers
Drowned in your laughter, jubilant and gay.

Now, from the happy heights whereon you stand,
Why could you not have stretched a guiding hand,
Or pointed but a pathway for my feet
That stumbled blindly in this unlit land?

O child, you found your gypsying so sweet,
What, though I strove, you would not understand!

Nay, but some mark you might have left behind,
Some token that my frightened eyes might find;
Some little sign to bid me know and stay
And find my pathway ere the day declined.

O child, my feet were bleeding all the way,
Yet to their stains so blind you were — so blind!

Now, if some day I gain my goal indeed,
Will I find solace for my want and need?
Ah, surely never evil may befall
As sore as these sad wounds wherewith I bleed!

O child, you too must know the worst of all —
To cry to one beloved who will not heed.