STRONG in thy steadfast purpose, be Like some brave master of the sea, Whose keel, by Titan pulses quickened, knows His will where'er he goes. Some isle, palm-roofed, in spiced Pacific air He seeks -- though solitary zones apart, Its place long fixed on his deep-studied chart. Fierce winds, your wild confusion make! Waves, wroth with tide and tempest, shake His iron-wrought hull aside! However driven, to that far island fair (His compass not more faithful than his heart) He makes his path the ocean wide -- His prow is always there! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BALLADE OF SUICIDE by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON ARE THE CHILDREN AT HOME? by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER THE DOUBLE-HEADED SNAKE OF NEWBURY by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER A CHRISTMAS CAROL by GEORGE WITHER THE BALLADE OF THE GOLDEN HORN by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) THE WIFE'S SONG by ERNEST BENSHIMOL SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 5 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |