The Wish

Should some great angel say to me to-morrow,
 “Thou must re-tread thy pathway from the start,
But God will grant, in pity, for thy sorrow,
 Some one dear wish, the nearest to thy heart.’

This were my wish! from my life’s dim beginning
 Let be what has been! wisdom planned the whole;
My want, my woe, my errors, and my sinning,
 All, all were needed lessons for my soul.