Richard Watson Gilder

The New Day. Part 4. 6. “I Count My Time by Times That I Meet Thee”

I count my time by times that I meet thee;
⁠     These are my yesterdays, my morrows, noons,
     ⁠And nights; these my old moons and my new moons
     ⁠Slow fly the hours, or fast the hours do flee,
If thou art far from or art near to me;
     ⁠If thou art far, the bird tunes are no tunes;
⁠     If thou art near, the wintry days are Junes—
⁠     Darkness is light, and sorrow cannot be.
Thou art my dream come true, and thou my dream;
⁠     The air I breathe, the world wherein I dwell;
     My journey's end thou art, and thou the way;
Thou art what I would be, yet only seem;
⁠     Thou art my heaven and thou art my hell;
     ⁠Thou art my ever-living judgment-day.