There was one who walked in shadow,
There was one who walked in light:
But once their way together lay,
Where sun and shade unite,
In the meadow of the lotus,
In the meadow of the rose,
Where fair with youth and clear with truth
The Living River flows.
Scarcely summer stillness breaking,
Questions, answers, soft and low-
The words they said, the vows they made,
None but the willows know.
Both have passed away for ever
From the meadow and the stream;
Past their waking, past their breaking
The sweetness of that dream.
One along the dusty highway
Toiling counts the weary hours,
And one among its shining throng
The world has crowned with flowers.
Sometimes perhaps amid the gardens,
Where the noble have their part,
Though noon's o'erhead, a dew-drop's shed
Into a lily's heart.
This I know, till one heart reaches
Labour's sum, the restful grave,
Will still be seen the willow-green,
And heard the rippling wave.