Poem by Richard Watson Gilder

The New Day. Part 3. 3. “What Would I Save Thee from, Dear Heart, Dear Heart?”

What would I save thee from, dear heart, dear heart?
⁠Not from what Heaven may send thee of its pain;
⁠Not from fierce sunshine or the scathing rain:
⁠The pang of pleasure; passion's wound and smart;
Not from the long, glad anguish of thine art;
⁠Nor loss of faithful friends, nor any gain
⁠Of growth by grief; I would not thee restrain
⁠From needful death. But O, thou other part
Of me!—through whom the whole world I behold,
⁠As through the blue I see the stars above!
⁠In whom the world I find, hid fold on fold!
Thee would I save from this—nay, do not move;
⁠Fear not, it may not flash, the air is cold;
⁠Save thee from this—the lightning of my love.

1. The New Day. Part 4. 17. “He Knows Not the Path of Duty”
2. The New Day. Part 3. 19. Thistle-Down
3. The Celestial Passion. Part 2. 4. Cost
4. The New Day. Part 3. 12. Denial
5. The New Day. Part 4. 4. Song (Not from the whole wide world I chose thee)

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