Isolation.
17
ISOLATION.
A young soul sought to wander from the path
Where trod her mates. "Oh, come," she said to these,
"Into some new, broad way, where open out
More light and freedom, where the secrets strange
Of life and death, and mystery of birth
May be revealed. The milestones, worn and old
And time-stained, on the narrow, beaten road,
I read not." But they would not follow her.
"Stay with us," they said, "the path is narrow
And no view on either side. The hedges
Dense shut off the vista wide, but many feet
Have trod the road, and found their peace at last—
Thy fathers and our fathers and our friends,—
And at the end is certainty and rest."
She asked no more, but softly to herself
She said, "My love will climb those heights with me,"
And, ere the honeymoon had waned, she led
His willing feet out to the open way
Where trod her mates. "Oh, come," she said to these,
"Into some new, broad way, where open out
More light and freedom, where the secrets strange
Of life and death, and mystery of birth
May be revealed. The milestones, worn and old
And time-stained, on the narrow, beaten road,
I read not." But they would not follow her.
"Stay with us," they said, "the path is narrow
And no view on either side. The hedges
Dense shut off the vista wide, but many feet
Have trod the road, and found their peace at last—
Thy fathers and our fathers and our friends,—
And at the end is certainty and rest."
She asked no more, but softly to herself
She said, "My love will climb those heights with me,"
And, ere the honeymoon had waned, she led
His willing feet out to the open way
