There's no alternative to effort,
Focus, relentless trying,
For to cease like Rossini
Is the silence of early dying.
Not for everyone Otello,
Verdi’s masterwork plying,
Listening, commenting,
Intrepidly sighing.
That much accomplishment
Cannot be had by relying
On the craft of the past
To be ever worth buying,
But effort itself revives,
Keeps wit from drying.
