Page:Collected poems Robinson, Edwin Arlington.djvu/230

 "Forgive me! and your ignorance: Could you but have the vision here That I have, you would understand As I do that all ways are clear "For those who dare to follow them With earnest eyes and honest feet. But Sainte-Nitouche has made the way For me, and I shall find it sweet. "Sweet with a bitter sting left? Yes, Bitter enough, God knows, at first; But there are more steep ways than one To make the best look like the worst; "And here is mine the dark and hard, For me to follow, trust, and hold: And worship, so that I may leave No broken story to be told. "Therefore I welcome what may come, Glad for the days, the nights, the years."- An upward flash of ember-flame Revealed the gladness in his tears. "You see them, but you know," said he, "Too much to be incredulous: You know the day that makes us wise, The moment that makes fools of us. "So I shall follow from now on The road that she has found for me : The dark and starry way that leads Right upward, and eternally.