The luck of man came over him
And took him without warning.

Afraid to meet a foolish fate
By green sea or by dry land,
He fled away without delay
And sought a desert island.

But even there he felt despair;
For happiness is only
The hope of doing something else;
And he was very lonely.

He vowed to lead a life of prayer
Because that he had lost her;
And every time he thought of her
He said a _Pater noster_.

Yet hard it is for man to change
The less love for the greater;
And every time he reached _Amen_,
He must go back to _Pater_.

And so he grew a year or two
Disconsolate and holy,
While friends he'd known long since had grown
Papas and roly-poly.

Until one day, one blessed day,
A-moping like a Hindoo,