Crossings
Give me your hand to hold, dear one, I must not cross this turbid stream alone: Your hand tight-held will make a stepping-stone For all of me that has to cross so soon.
Anna M. Johnson
SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)
Give me your hand to hold, dear one, I must not cross this turbid stream alone: Your hand tight-held will make a stepping-stone For all of me that has to cross so soon.
A speaker stands at the edge of a muddy, churning stream and asks someone dear to hold their hand. The request is simple, almost whispered, but the language around it carries real weight. The stream is "turbid," hard to see through and hard to read, and the speaker admits they "must not cross" it alone. The image works literally, but it also reads as a larger crossing, perhaps toward death or some other final threshold. The phrase "so soon" suggests the moment is close and that the speaker knows it.
The most striking idea is that the loved one's hand becomes a "stepping-stone." Instead of simply comforting, the hand turns into something solid to stand on in the middle of rushing water. The mood is quiet, vulnerable, and tender. There is fear underneath, but no panic. The speaker trusts the other person completely, and the poem is really about how much strength another person can lend.