 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
The Old Road
The road is left, that once was trod
By man and heavy-laden beast;
And new ways opened iron-shod,
That bind the land from west to east.
By man and heavy-laden beast;
And new ways opened iron-shod,
That bind the land from west to east.
I asked of Him, who all things knows,
Why none who lived now passed that way;
Where rose the dust, the grass now grows?
A still, low voice was heard to say:
Why none who lived now passed that way;
Where rose the dust, the grass now grows?
A still, low voice was heard to say:
“Thou know'st not why I change the course
Of him who travels, learn to go;—
Obey the spirit's gentle force,
Nor ask thee, where the stream may flow.”
Of him who travels, learn to go;—
Obey the spirit's gentle force,
Nor ask thee, where the stream may flow.”
“Man shall not walk in his own ways,
For he is blind and cannot see;
But let him trust, and lengthened days
Shall lead his feet to heaven and Me.”
For he is blind and cannot see;
But let him trust, and lengthened days
Shall lead his feet to heaven and Me.”
“Then shall the grass the path grow o'er,
That his own willfulness has trod;
Nor man nor beast shall pass it more,
But he shall walk with Me, his God.”
That his own willfulness has trod;
Nor man nor beast shall pass it more,
But he shall walk with Me, his God.”
Poem No. 552; summer–fall 1839
| Jones Very : The Complete Poems | |