The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson (Vailima ed.)/Volume 8/New Poems/On his Pitiable Transformation
LXXXIV
ON 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.