 | Poems of affection by Ella Wheeler Wilcox |  |
50
PLANS
I thought to make a peaceful home,
Earth's sweetest gift and best,
But Fate said sternly, ‘Go and roam
On highways of unrest.’
Earth's sweetest gift and best,
But Fate said sternly, ‘Go and roam
On highways of unrest.’
I planned to help a Soul in need
With open heart and purse;
It only woke ignoble greed
And proved the mortal's curse.
With open heart and purse;
It only woke ignoble greed
And proved the mortal's curse.
I tried to cast a radiant way
On Sorrow's shadowy path;
But Sorrow turned her face away
And cursed me in her wrath.
On Sorrow's shadowy path;
But Sorrow turned her face away
And cursed me in her wrath.
I said, ‘I will walk on alone
In ways toil fills with flowers.’
Fate answered in an undertone,
‘Nay, you shall walk in ours.’
In ways toil fills with flowers.’
Fate answered in an undertone,
‘Nay, you shall walk in ours.’
51
Quoth I, ‘In service all attain
Contentment, I am sure.’
Fate flung me on a bed of pain,
And simply said, ‘Endure!’
Contentment, I am sure.’
Fate flung me on a bed of pain,
And simply said, ‘Endure!’
Though all my plans have been laid low,
The choicest and most dear
Will yet be realised I know:
Fate cannot interfere.
The choicest and most dear
Will yet be realised I know:
Fate cannot interfere.
I shall meet Death adown the road,
That wise and glorious one
Who tells us as he lifts our load
That Life has just begun.
That wise and glorious one
Who tells us as he lifts our load
That Life has just begun.
I shall go with him to the place
Where spirit comrades wait:
Again shall I behold the face
Of my Eternal Mate.
Yea, Death and I shall win the race,
O impotent, stern Fate!
Where spirit comrades wait:
Again shall I behold the face
Of my Eternal Mate.
Yea, Death and I shall win the race,
O impotent, stern Fate!
| Poems of affection by Ella Wheeler Wilcox | |