I <br /> <br />Mysterious One, inscrutable, unknown, <br />A silent Presence, with averted face, <br />Whose lineaments no mortal eye can trace, <br />And robes of trailing darkness round thee thrown, <br />Over the midnight hills thou comest alone! <br />What thou dost bring to me from farthest space, <br />What blessing or what ban, what dole, what grace, <br />I may not know. Thy secrets are thine own! <br />Yet, asking not for lightest word or sign <br />To tell me what the hidden fate may be, <br />Without a murmur, or a quickened breath, <br />Unshrinkingly I place my hand in thine, <br />And through the shadowy depths go forth with thee <br />To meet, as thou shalt lead, or life, or death! <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />Then, if I fear not thee, thou veiléd One, <br />Whose face I know not, why fear I to meet <br />Beyond the everlasting hills her feet <br />Who cometh when all Yesterdays are done? <br />Shall I, who have proved thee good, thy sister shun? <br />O thou To-morrow, who dost feel the beat <br />Of life's long, rhythmic pulses, strong and sweet, <br />In the far realm that hath no need of sun- <br />Thou who art fairer than the fair To-day <br />That I have held so dear, and loved so much- <br />When, slow descending from the hills divine, <br />Thou summonest me to join thee on thy way, <br />Let me not shrink nor tremble at thy touch, <br />Nor fear to break thy bread and drink thy wine!<br /><br />Julia Caroline (Ripley) Dorr<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-morrow-6/
