End not your minstrel days in quiet repose,
But play your music still, strong from the heart,
And as a poet sings out his melodious prose,
Your refrain will now rouse other tunes to start.

Then joyfulness will fill your barren mind,
And lighten up the paths that you will take,
And as this harmony now becomes entwined,
It enters into your soul, a home to make.

Ernestine Northover

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/minstrel-days/