The Joyful Quest

In every field a fragrant lily grew

On every woodland edge a violet,

And I amidst the waving grasses knew

A peace that no misfortune could beset.

But I was wrong, the calm not deep enough

And beaten by the raging winds of fate

Foundered lost in some dark nether trough

Companioned by the earth alone to wait

The singing of myself upon the way,

Strength again to face the Furies' wrath,

Sorrow's debt to life in full repay

And bid my being take the sunlit path.

For dark surrounds and treacherous the night

When ignorance and enmity abound,

I pray in silence for a ray of light,

Hope regained the joyful quest refound.