Eldorado:

Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old--
This knight so bold--
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be--
This land of Eldorado?"
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied--
"If you seek for Eldorado!"


Summary:

A gaily dressed and gallantly singing knight has searched day and night for Eldorado, but as time passes, he grows older and more melancholy because he cannot find it. As he loses his strength, he asks a "pilgrim shadow" of Eldorado's whereabouts, and the shadow replies that he must go "over the mountains of the moon" and "down the Valley of the Shadow" to find Eldorado.