The Saddest Fate by Anonymous.

Part 1 of 2.

TO touch a

broken lute,
To strike a jangled string,
To strive with tones forever mute
The dear old tunes to sing—
What sadder fate could any heart befall?
Alas! dear child, never to sing at all.

To sigh for pleasures flown,
To weep for withered flowers,
To count the blessings we have known,
Lost with the vanished hours—
What sadder fate could any heart befall?
Alas! dear child, ne’er to have known them all.