The Wish

by Walter M. Lindsay

Forgive me, if, in sadder hours,
I wish thy earthly path,
Was not through sunshine and through flowers;
For now thy journey hath
No need of a sustaining hand, --
No need of friendly cheer;
A sunlit pathway, through the land,
Leads on from year to year.

Hadst thou been born to other fate,
And, wandering on alone,
Reached, with sad heart, the iron gate,
Between whose portals shone
The watch-fires in the fields of life,
How gladly had I then
Thy footsteps guided through the strife
Of myriad struggling men!