Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume III. Sorrow and Consolation. 1904. | | | | IV. Comfort and Cheer | | Waiting | | John Burroughs (1837–1921) |
| | | SERENE, I fold my hands and wait, | |
| Nor care for wind, or tide, or sea; | |
| I rave no more ’gainst time or fate, | |
| For, lo! my own shall come to me. | |
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| I stay my haste, I make delays, | 5 |
| For what avails this eager pace? | |
| I stand amid the eternal ways, | |
| And what is mine shall know my face. | |
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| Asleep, awake, by night or day, | |
| The friends I seek are seeking me; | 10 |
| No wind can drive my bark astray, | |
| Nor change the tide of destiny. | |
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| What matter if I stand alone? | |
| I wait with joy the coming years; | |
| My heart shall reap where it has sown, | 15 |
| And garner up its fruit of tears. | |
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| The waters know their own and draw | |
| The brook that springs in yonder height; | |
| So flows the good with equal law | |
| Unto the soul of pure delight. | 20 |
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| The stars come nightly to the sky; | |
| The tidal wave unto the sea; | |
| Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high, | |
| Can keep my own away from me. | | | | |
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