| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Soul and Body |
| | | Samuel Waddington (b. 1844) |
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| WHERE wert thou, Soul, ere yet my body born | |
| Became thy dwelling place? Didst thou on earth, | |
| Or in the clouds, await this body’s birth? | |
| Or by what chance upon that winter’s morn | |
| Didst thou this body find, a babe forlorn? | 5 |
| Didst thou in sorrow enter, or in mirth? | |
| Or for a jest, perchance, to try its worth | |
| Thou tookest flesh, ne’er from it to be torn? | |
| Nay, Soul, I will not mock thee; well I know | |
| Thou wert not on the earth, nor in the sky; | 10 |
| For with my body’s growth thou too didst grow; | |
| But with that body’s death wilt thou too die? | |
| I know not, and thou canst not tell me, so | |
| In doubt we ’ll go together,—thou and I. | |
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