All Quiet along the Potomac and other poems/Gone to the Country
GONE TO THE COUNTRY.
GONE to the country, darling,
Sooner than we had planned,
With a broken rosebud folded
Softly within your hand?
What clothes took you, my darling ?
"My crimson robes made white."
Found you the path at midnight?
"The Lamb thereon gives light."
What food upheld you fainting?
"The Tree of Life was there."
And were you thirsty never?
"Whoever thirsts drinks there."
And were you lonely, dearest?
"Nay; angels round me pressed,
And Christ, my Elder Brother,
Carried me on His breast.
"And now I ve reached the country
Where storms are all unknown;
The jasper walls are shadowless
Around the shining throne.
"So never mind the daisies
That on the hillside die
To give me room, or rather
Give room for what was 'I.'
"I'll watch the crowd incoming,
Close hov'ring by the gate;
And there, O best beloved!
I'll sing, and praise, and wait."