Chapter XXXVI

And when she saw us two there, “What?” she cried;
And then stood speechless; whereat I sped on,
Detailing all my plans and all my hopes:
How she, with soul so true and aim so high,
Might meet in them the mission meant for her,—
How all the wrongs of earth might be redeem’d
Through sacrificial deeds of such as we.

Still stood she silent. Then I spoke again:
“But think not, Edith, for my plans alone
I plead with you. I plead, too, for myself;
And tell my plans that you may know myself;
Not holding that I stand above you, friend.
Nay, nay; I oft feel worthy scarce to touch
Your fingers’ tips, or stand erect and taint
The level of the air you breathe in; nay,
I would not judge your life; would only crave,
When we have so much else in sympathy,
That holy state where two souls, else at one,
Would both be God’s.—Ah, could you thus be mine?”