Mine Be the Strength of Spirit

Mine be the strength of spirit, full and free,

Like some broad river rushing down alone,

With the selfsame impulse wherewith he was thrown

From his loud fount upon the echoing lea; —

Which with increasing might doth forward flee

By town, and tower, and hill, and cape,and isle,

And in the middle of the green salt sea

Keeps his blue waters fresh for many a mile.

Mine be the power which ever to its sway

Will win the wise at once, and by degrees

May into uncongenial spirits flow;

Even as the warm gulf-stream of Florida

Floats far away into the Northern seas

The lavish growths of southern Mexico.