The Streets I Feared To See, A Poem

By George MacDonald (1824-1905):

I said: “Let me walk in the field;”

             God said: “Nay, walk in the town;”

I said: “There are no flowers there;”

             He said, “No flowers, but a crown.”

I said: “But the sky is black,

There is nothing but noise and din;”

But He wept as He sent me back,

“There is more,” He said, “there is sin.”

I said: “But the air is thick,

And fogs are veiling the sun.”

He answered: “Yet souls are sick,

And souls in the dark undone.”

I said: “I shall miss the light,

And friends will miss me, they say,”

He answered me, “Choose tonight,

If I am to miss you, or they.”

I pleaded for time to be given;

He said: “Is it hard to decide?

It will not seem hard in heaven

To have followed the steps of your Guide.”

I cast one look at the fields,

Then set my face to the town;

He said: “My child, do you yield?

Will you leave the flowers for the crown?”

Then into His hand went mine,

And into my heart came He;

And I walk in a light Divine,

The streets I had feared to see.