OF HIS PITIABLE TRANSFORMATION

I who was young so long,

Young and alert and gay,

Now that my hair is grey,

Begin to change my song.

Now I know right from wrong,

Now I know pay and pray,

I who was young so long,

Young and alert and gay.

Now I follow the throng,

Walk in the beaten way,

Hear what the elders say,

And own that I was wrong —

I who was young so long.