Dauntless I stood, and daring poured
Hot words of anger—stepped one pace;
And in my hand I held a sword.
Steel clashed on steel! Together warred
Comrades of old in that fell place!
My God and I met at the ford.
One moment's thrust and He had scored;
I of His mercy pleaded grace:
God smiled on me and dropped His sword!
ON THE WIDE, WHITE ROAD
The Question:
Minstrel with a song
On the wide, white road—
Loafing with the lilies of the June—
What makes you so strong
Underneath your load,
Lilting such a joyous little tune?
Tell me, little brother,
What I want to know—
Why your lips are tremulous with joy—
Why you, like a mother,
Soothe and love me so,
As she used to when I was a boy.
All the way behind
Fades into a dream
Hideous with faces in the gloom;
Phantom-terrors blind
With a lurid gleam
Glowing from Gehenna-gulfs of doom!
The Answer:
Comrade, I will tell you
How I laugh and sing,
Loafing with the lilies by the way.
Comrade, what befell you
That you missed the King
Crowned with purple pansies of the day?
Brother, Him I know—
Lord of earth and star—
Find Him with the ferns beside the pool;
All the splendours grow
Dim and fade afar,
When He walks at shut of day and cool.