| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| The Angel at the Ford |
| | | William James Dawson (b. 1854) |
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| I SOUGHT to hold her, but within her eyes | |
| I read a new strange meaning; faint they prayed, | |
| “Oh, let me pass and taste the great surprise; | |
| Behold me not reluctant nor afraid!” | |
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| “Nay, I will strive with God for this!” I cried, | 5 |
| “As man with man, like Jacob at the brook, | |
| Only be thou, dear heart, upon my side!” | |
| “Be still,” she answered, “very still, and look!” | |
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| And straightway I discerned with inward dread | |
| The multitudinous passing of white souls, | 10 |
| Who paused, each one with sad averted head, | |
| And flashing of indignant aureoles. | |
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