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

By Richard WatsonGilder

905 I Count My Time by Times That I Meet Thee

I COUNT my time by times that I meet thee;

These are my yesterdays, my morrows, noons,

And nights; these my old moons and my new moons.

Slow fly the hours, or fast the hours do flee,

If thou art far from or art near to me:

If thou art far, the bird tunes are no tunes;

If thou art near, the wintry days are Junes,—

Darkness is light, and sorrow cannot be.

Thou art my dream come true, and thou my dream;

The air I breathe, the world wherein I dwell;

My journey’s end thou art, and thou the way;

Thou art what I would be, yet only seem;

Thou art my heaven and thou art my hell;

Thou art my ever-living judgment-day.