Page:Poems, Volume 2, Coates, 1916.djvu/129



HE earth is mine and its myriad flowers,

And the stars are mine: I shall count them all;

As I hasten on with expanding powers,

No cloud-capped peak shall my strength appal.

I will measure my might 'gainst the might of Ocean,

In ships of my building, its wastes will dare;

I will learn of the swallow its swift-winged motion,

And ride as it rides, through the fields of Air! . ..

I marvel my fathers have been contented

To live and to labor in ways time-worn:

That to Fate's denials they e'er consented,

Solaced by trifles my soul would scorn!

For the tired old world I will write a story

That none of her children has told before:

A tale of adventure and love, whose glory

Shall glow in her annals forevermore.