When I have passed away and am forgotten, 
 And no one living can recall my face, 
When under alien sod my bones lie rotten 
 With not a tree or stone to mark the place; 
Perchance a pensive youth, with passion burning, 
 For olden verse that smacks of love and wine, 
The musty pages of old volumes turning, 
 May light upon a little song of mine, 
And he may softly hum the tune and wonder 
 Who wrote the verses in the long ago; 
Or he may sit him down awhile to ponder 
 Upon the simple words that touch him so.


 



