Sara Teasdale, comp. (1884–1933).
The Answering Voice: One Hundred Love Lyrics by Women. 1917. | | | | A Woman’s Question | | By Adelaide Anne Procter |
| | | BEFORE I trust my fate to thee, | |
| Or place my hand in thine, | |
| Before I let thy future give | |
| Color and form to mine,— | |
| Before I peril all for thee, question thy soul | 5 |
| to-night, for me. | |
| |
| I break all slighter bonds, nor feel | |
| One shadow of regret: | |
| Is there one link within the past | |
| That holds thy spirit yet? | 10 |
| Or is thy faith as clear and free as that which | |
| I can pledge to thee?… | |
| |
| Is there within thy heart a need | |
| That mine cannot fulfill? | |
| One chord that any other hand | 15 |
| Could better wake or still? | |
| Speak now, lest at some future day, my whole | |
| life wither and decay…. | |
| |
| Couldst thou withdraw thy hand one day, | |
| And answer to my claim | 20 |
| That fate, and that to-day’s mistake, | |
| Not thou, had been to blame? | |
| Some soothe their conscience thus; but thou—oh, | |
| surely thou wilt warn me now! | | | | |
|
|
