The poem
So now I take a bitter road Whereon no bourne I see, And wearily I lift the load That once I bore with glee. For me no more by sea or shore Adventure's star shall burn, As I forsake wild ways to take The Trail of No Return.
Such paths of peril I have trod: In sun and shade they lay. And some went wistfully to God, And some the devil's way. But there is one I may not shun, Though long my life's sojourn: A dawn will break when I must take The Trail of No Return.
Farewell to friends, good-bye to foes, Adieu to smile or frown; My voyaging is nigh its close, And dark is drifting down. With weary feet my way I beat, Yet holy light discern . . . So let me take without heart-break The Trail of No Return.