Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope's true gage,
And thus I'll take my pilgrimage.

-Sir Walter Ralegh (1554-1618),
The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage





Light of Laughter (Hawaii)

    Pass, till the Spirit of the spot shall lead
        Thy footsteps to a slope of green access,
    Where, like an infant's smile, over the dead
A light of laughing flowers along the grass is spread.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822),
Adonais





Illusive Path (Zion)

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
    Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
        Within a dream.

-Ernest Dowson (1867-1900),
Non Sum Qualis Eram
Bonae sub Regno Cynarae





Mysterious Light (Zion)

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons--
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes--

-Emily Dickinson (1830-1886),
There's a certain Slant of light





Silent Trail (Shenandoah)

"And see not ye that bonny road,
    Which winds about the fernie brae?
That is the road to fair Elfland,
    Where you and I this night maun gae.

-Anonymous (c.1400-c.1600),
Thomas the Rhymer





Up-Hill (Shenandoah)

Does the road wind uphill all the way?
    Yes, to the very end.
Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
    From morn to night, my friend.

-Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894),
Up-Hill





Night Watch (Honolulu)

By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882),
Paul Revere's Ride







previous pictures of paths




images © 2000 by Randy Wang
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