Page:Poems Jackson.djvu/37

MY LEGACY.

HEY told me I was heir, I turned in haste,
  And ran to seek my treasure,
And wondered as I ran how it was placed,—
  If I should find a measure
Of gold, or if the titles of fair lands
And houses would be laid within my hands.

I journeyed many roads; I knocked at gates;
  I spoke to each wayfarer
I met, and said, "A heritage awaits
  Me. Art not thou the bearer
Of news? Some message sent to me whereby
I learn which way my new possessions lie?"

Some asked me in; naught lay beyond their door;
  Some smiled and would not tarry,
But said that men were just behind who bore
  More gold than I could carry;
And so the morn, the noon, the day were spent,
While empty-handed up and down I went.

At last one cried, whose face I could not see,
  As through the mists he hasted;
"Poor child, what evil ones have hindered thee,
  Till this whole day is wasted?
Hath no man told thee that thou art joint heir
With one named Christ, who waits the goods to share?"

The one named Christ I sought for many days,
  In many places vainly;