Seeking Rest.
Thus saith my soul, “ The path is
long to tread,1
Behind me far it stretches, far before
;2
Wearily, drearily, sight travels o’er3
Leagues that have lengthened as the slow days sped,4
And wearily o’er leagues untraversèd5
Which I must traverse ere I gain the door6
That shuts not night nor day. What need I more7
Than to find rest at last in that last bed ?”8
Is it well said, O soul ? The way is
long,9
Weary are heart and brain and aching feet,10
But ’mid thy weariness thou still art strong11
And rest unearned is shameful ; so entreat12
This one thing—that at last the conqueror’s song13
May echo through a sleep divinely sweet.14