Woman's Voice

by Unknown

Road Song

By Irene P. McKeehan

(In “The Century Magazine.”)

I have lived in the garden with Adam,

And eaten the fruit of the tree;

I have hidden, ashamed, from the face of God,

For I dreamed that He could not see.

The flaming sword of the Angel of Wrath

Has driven me over the earth;

I am marked with the mark of the murderer Cain;

I have travailed at death and at birth.

With patriarch, priest and prophet, I seek for a promised land,

Lead me, brother; follow, me, brother; brother, oh, take my hand!

I am moving onward, and ever on, O brother, I may not stand!

I have made my children the slaves of trade,

And scarred their backs with the rod;

For a bag of gold, with a sword of steel

I have broken the laws of God.

But whenever a cause demands my life,

I have laid it down with a will;

For honor and love and a heart-wrung cry

I can play the hero still.

My feet are firm on the steep, straight way, though I doubt if I understand;

Whether you lead or follow me brother, let us go hand in hand!

And stay not behind, dear brother of mine, on the road to the Promised Land.