Ten of us, eager as men may be,
Rode through the night to the distant sea.
One of us riding with reins held slack,
Stumbled and fell on the stone-strewn track;
And one of us turned by his side to stay,
But eight of us carelessly galloped away.
Eight of us, eager as men may be,
Rode through the night to the distant sea.
Where the track led over the black-soil loam,
One of us slackened, and turned for home;
And one of us rested his galloping beast
To join in the dance of the bridal feast.
But six of us, eager as men may be,
Rode through the night to the distant sea.
Lured by the lights and the cheer within,
Two of us paused at a wayside inn;
And three of us stayed at the edge of a wood,
Where the bevy of beckoning women stood:
Leaving of all the ten, but me,
Riding alone to the distant sea.
Francis Kenna (1895)