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. 29. The Unknown Way
2. The New Day. Part 4. 16. “Love Is Not Bond to Any Man”
3. The New Day. Part 3. 6. “Love Me Not, Love, for That I First Loved Thee”
4. The New Day. Part 4. 10. The Violin
5. The New Day. Part 4. 17. “He Knows Not the Path of Duty”

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