Poem by Richard Watson Gilder

The New Day. Part 3. 4. “What Would I Win Thee To?”

What would I win thee to? dear heart and true!
     ⁠A thought of bliss, a thornless life? Ah no!
     ⁠Through weeping pain, Love, I would let thee go;
     ⁠Through weary days and widowed nights; yea, through
The Valley of the Shadow, without rue,
⁠     If thou couldst gain the goal, Love, even so.
⁠     I would not win thee to a fruitful woe;
⁠     To best of earth or best beyond the blue.
And most of all would thy true lover scorn
⁠     To win thee to himself; thou shalt be free
⁠     To have or hate! But O, my golden morn!
Behold thy lover's passionate bravery—
⁠     Mighty, unresting, stedfast, heaven-born—
⁠     To win thee to the light, which is—to thee! 

1. The New Day. Part 3. 19. Thistle-Down
2. The New Day. Part 3. 31. “When the Last Doubt Is Doubted”
3. The New Day. Part 4. 17. “He Knows Not the Path of Duty”
4. The New Day. Part 4. 4. Song (Not from the whole wide world I chose thee)
5. The New Day. Part 3. 12. Denial

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