Poems (Sharpless)/"Will You Tread the Long Path with Me?"

by Frances M. Sharpless

"Will you tread the long path with me?"

Thro' the long path I'll walk with thee,
 Clasped closely hand in hand;
'Neath the same sky, o'er the same way,
 By the same breezes fanned.

Whether thro' pleasant paths it lie,
 Gladdened by springing flowers,
Or whether thro' the barren plains
 Shall stretch this path of ours,

Beneath the sunlight or the shade,
 I'll tread its maze with thee,
Happy in knowing 'neath the cloud
 Thou'lt have more need of me.

I lay a trusting hand in thine,
 My feet are firmly set
Upon the path that lies beyond
 The spot where we have met.

I only ask, in yielding up
 This maiden life of mine,
I only ask for all my heart
 The love, the truth, of thine.

I ask thy perfect trust to shed
 A holy light o'er both;
Or else distrust will oft disturb
 Our newly plighted troth.

I ask thee, with beseeching eyes,
 For patient tenderness,
When tears thou canst not comprehend
 Nor all my power repress,

Fall from the eyes I try to raise
 Submissively to thine;
Nor think because the rain-drops fall
 I uselessly repine.

Our woman-hearts are finely strung,
 Vibrating with a breath,
And she is saddest who must smile
 O'er bleeding wounds beneath.

A careless word, a hasty line,
 Strikes like a barbèd dart;
Deal very gently, you who win,
 With woman's loving heart.

I place my hand within thy own,
 Thro' love, confidingly,
Content to tread thro' any path
 So that it be with thee.