one of my favorite poems

He said, "Wilt thou go with Me
Where shadows eclipse the light?"
And she answered "My Lord, I will follow Thee
Far, under the stars at night."
But He said, "No starlight pierces the gloom
Of the valley thy feet must tread;
But it leads thee on to a cross and a tomb-"
"But I go with Thee," she said.

"Count the cost; canst thou pay the price-
Be a dumb thing led;
Laid on an altar of sacrifice?"
"Bind me there, my Lord," she said.
"Bind me that I may not fail-
Or hold with Thy wounded hand;
For I fear the knife and the piercing nail,
And I shrink from the burning brand.
Yet whither Thou goest, I will go,
Though the way be long and dread-"
His voice was tender, and sweet, and low-
"Thou shalt go with Me," He said.

And none knew the anguish sore
Or the night of the way she came;
Alone, alone with the cross she bore,
Alone in her grief and shame.
Brought to the altar of sacrifice,
There as a dumb thing slain;
Was the guerdon more than the bitter price?
Was it worth the loss and pain?

Ask the seed-corn, when the grain
Ripples its ripened gold;
Ask the sower when, after toil and pain,
He garners the hundred-fold.
HE said (and His voice was glad and sweet);
"Was it worth the cost, My own?"
And she answered, low at His pierced feet,
"I found at the end of the pathway lone
NOT DEATH, BUT LIFE ON A THRONE!"

-Annie Clarke