When first his barque stood inland To the coast of that far Finland, Sweet-watered brooks came tumbling to the shore The weary mariner to restore. And still he stayed from day to day, If he their kindness might repay; But more and more The sullen waves came rolling toward the shore. And still the more the stranger waited, The less his argosy was freighted, And still the more he stayed, The less his debt was paid. So he unfurled his shrouded mast To receive the fragrant blast; And that same refreshing gale Which had wooed him to remain Again and again, It was that filled his sail And drove him to the main. All day the low-hung clouds Dropt tears into the sea; And the wind amid the shrouds Sighed plaintively. INDEPENDENCE[12] My life more civil is and free Than any civil polity. Ye princes, keep your realms And circumscribèd power, Not wide as are my dreams, Nor rich as is this hour. What can ye give which I have not? What can ye take which I have got? Can ye defend the dangerless? Can ye inherit nakedness? To all true wants Time’s ear is deaf, Penurious States lend no relief Out of their pelf: But a free soul--thank God-- Can help itself. Be sure your fate Doth keep apart its state,-- Not linked with any band, Even the noblest in the land,-- In tented fields with cloth of gold No place doth hold, But is more chivalrous than they are, And sigheth for a nobler war; A finer strain its trumpet rings, A brighter gleam its armor flings. The life that I aspire to live, No man proposeth me; No trade upon the street[13] Wears its emblazonry. DING DONG[14] When the world grows old by the chimney-side, Then forth to the youngling nooks I glide, Where over the water and over the land The bells are booming on either hand. Now up they go ding, then down again dong, And awhile they ring to the same old song, For the metal goes round at a single bound, A-cutting the fields with its measured sound, While the tired tongue falls with a lengthened boom As solemn and loud as the crack of doom. Then changed is their measure to tone upon tone, And seldom it is that one sound comes alone, For they ring out their peals in a mingled throng, And the breezes waft the loud ding-dong along. When the echo hath reached me in this lone vale, I am straightway a hero in coat of mail, I tug at my belt and I march on my post, And feel myself more than a match for a host. MY PRAYER Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelf Than that I may not disappoint myself; That in my action I may soar as high As I can now discern with this clear eye.