Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By JonesVery

286 The Old Road

THE ROAD is left that once was trod

By man and heavy-laden beast;

And new ways opened, iron-shod,

That bind the land from west to east.

I asked of Him who all things knows

Why none who lived now passed that way:

Where rose the dust the grass now grows?

A still, low voice was heard to say,—

“Thou knowest not why I change the course

Of him who travels: learn to go,

Obey the Spirit’s gentle force,

Nor ask thou where the stream may flow.

“Man shall not walk in his own ways,

For he is blind and cannot see;

But let him trust, and lengthened days

Shall lead his feet to heaven and Me.

Then shall the grass the path grow o’er,

That his own wilfulness has trod;

And man nor beast shall pass it more,

But he shall walk with Me, his God.”