| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 943. Inheritance |
| | | By Mary Thacher Higginson |
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| WE wondered why he always turned aside | |
| When mirth and gladness filled the brimming days: | |
| Who else so fit as he for pleasure’s ways? | |
| Men thought him frozen by a selfish pride; | |
| But that his voice was music none denied, | 5 |
| Or that his smile was like the sun’s warm rays. | |
| One day upon the sands he spoke in praise | |
| Of swimmers who were buffeting the tide: | |
| “The swelling waves of life they dare to meet. | |
| I may not plunge where others safely go,— | 10 |
| Unbidden longings in my pulses beat.” | |
| O blind and thoughtless world! you little know | |
| That ever round this hero’s steadfast feet | |
| Surges and tugs the dreaded undertow. | |
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