And yet she said: "Now I walk free
At last!"

II. TOLL-GATE

The sign read:

"Paupers may pass untaxed,
The Rich shall pay a penny,
The Poor
Must give all they possess."

She emptied her pockets bravely and passed through...
They gave her a golden coin in return for her silver,
Bearing on one side the head of a king,
And on the other a worn inscription
Curved like a wreath
And written in a tongue she did not know.

III. THE INN

There was the inn, beside the path,
Standing like the words of an ancient prophet
Forgotten long, now suddenly come true.

"They who break bread here
Shall not eat for hunger;
They who lie here
Shall not sleep."