The path led through an open gate,
New pastures there to find.
Just a few steps were needed now,
To leave the past behind.

An unknown future awaited
My intrepid heart's desire,
To face a new tomorrow,
And set the world on fire.

Only a short distance was remaining,
Between me and the unexplored.
So I crossed the boundary to the unseen,
That on the other side, was stored.

But the track turned rough and stoney,
And was not the hoped for aim,
So I passed back through that open gate,
And returned from whence I came.

Ernestine Northover

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/that-open-gate/