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John Burroughs

Waiting

Serene I fold my hands and wait,

Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea.

I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,

For lo! my own shall come to me.


I stay my haste, I make delays,

For what avails this eager pace?

I stand amid the eternal ways,

And what is mine shall know my face.


Asleep, awake, by night or day

The friends I seek are seeking me;

No wind can drive my bark astray,

Nor change the tide of destiny.


What matter if I stand alone?

I wait with joy the coming years;

My heart shall reap when it has sown,

And gather up its fruit of tears.


The waters know their own and draw

The brook that springs in yonder height;

So flows the good with equal law

Unto the soul of pure delight.


The stars come nightly to the sky;

The tidal wave unto the sea;

Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,

Can keep my own away from me.