A Reed by the River/When at the Last
WHEN AT THE LAST
When at the last I lay me down to sleep,And of the morrow's dawning reckon not,When night no more, no more may vigil keepAnd love's brief noon is but a dream forgot,Back to the Past, its sad and variant ways,Be Thou the warder of my yesterdays.
Amid the paths long lost, or sought too late,Where waywardness hath wandered, love been blind,If there be one that lieth clear and straight,Unseen, perchance forgot, Thou mayest findEven in that perverse, perplexing maze,A white thread shining 'mid my yesterdays.
So oft hath love's torch wavered, love's feet failed,Were the vain reckoning mine 'twere but to weep;—Blind Thou the sight by memory assailedWhen at the last, I lay me down to sleep,And through Time's deep and labyrinthian waysCrown Thou some moment in my yesterdays!