Orpheus Sings

Prologue: A pilgrim I, whose lonely life Has known children, man and wife Both young and old, and middling too All walks of men. The false, the true, The bad, the good. The saint and knave. Bullies, cowards, and some brave. Knowing all these types of men And women, children; this I ken: Of all I've known, and all I knew - How many stayed beside me true?