Classic Poem

I know not why I came,
Nor why I stay so long;
No creature loves my name,
None praise me in their song.

On all my lonesome way,
Men look at me and frown;
And, be it night or day,
They drop their curtains down.

There's no one on the earth
Who bids me come and stay;
They think I check the mirth,
And spoil the pleasant play.

Yet in my hand is writ
A sign I do not know;
I pause to ponder it,
Whichever way I go.

It glimmers like a star,
It whispers like a rune;
My Own — whoe'er you are,
Dismiss me not too soon!

I know not why I came,
Nor why I stay so long;
No creature loves my name,
None praise me in their song.

On all my lonesome way,
Men look at me and frown;
And, be it night or day,
They drop their curtains down.

There's no one on the earth
Who bids me come and stay;
They think I check the mirth,
And spoil the pleasant play.

Yet in my hand is writ
A sign I do not know;
I pause to ponder it,
Whichever way I go.

It glimmers like a star,
It whispers like a rune;
My Own — whoe'er you are,
Dismiss me not too soon!