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 where it hath sown,
    And garner 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.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

50 sec read
1,263

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EBEB FXFX GHGH IBIB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 853
Words 169
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

John Burroughs

John Burroughs was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U. more…

All John Burroughs poems | John Burroughs Books

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