Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
A Dream
By Milicent Washburn Shinn (1858–1940)I
In some vast darkness walking all alone,
And strain my every sense and hold my breath,
Because each step before me is unknown;
If, all around, the darkness blank and still
Hangs heavily and thick with shapeless dread,
And I go ever on without my will,
Yet dare not stop nor even turn my head,
But tremble, sick with terror, lest I may
At any instant cower to feel the clutch
Of something that has followed all the way—
If then thy sudden hand my shoulder touch,
I shall not shudder. Longed-for touch and dear,
How should I fail to know thee even here?