Lines written in Uncertainty

The lights are shining dimly round about,
         The Path is dark, I cannot see ahead;
And so I go as one perplexed with doubt,
         Nor guessing where my footsteps may be led.

The wind is high, the rain falls heavily,
         The strongest heart may well admit a fear,
For there are wrecks on land as well as sea
         E’en though the haven may be very near.

The night is dark and strength seems failing fast
         Though on my journey I but late set out.
And who can tell where the way leads at last?
         Would that the lights shone clearer round about!

¶ 1891. Written shortly after Beardsley’s nineteenth birthday, and reflecting anxieties brought on by a major tubercular relapse, these verses were included in a letter to a school friend.