Not Alone

I cannot be alone;

Where'er I go, I find,

Around my steps, the presence thrown

Of the Eternal Mind.

He lives in all my thoughts;

His home is in my heart;

There is no loneliness for me;

I never live apart.

I sometimes go from men,

Far in the silent woods;

But He is with me even then,

In shady solitudes.

The fellow of my walks,

Companion ever nigh,

He fills the solitary place,

With love and sympathy.

I cannot be alone,

Where'er I go, I find,

Around my steps, the presence thrown,

Of the Eternal Mind.

— Christ in the Soul (1872) XXII.