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

By Mary ThacherHigginson

941 In the Dark

THE FIELDS were silent, and the woodland drear,

The moon had set, and clouds hid all the stars;

And blindly, when a footfall met my ear,

I reached across the bars.

And swift as thought this hand was clasped in thine,

Though darkness hung around us and above;

Not guided by uncertain fate to mine,

But by the law of love.

I know not which of us may first go hence

And leave the other to be brave alone,

Unable to dispel the shadows dense

That veil the life unknown;

But if I linger last, and stretch once more

A longing hand when fades this earthly day,

Again it will be grasped by thine, before

My steps can lose the way.