I am Eden struck through Heaven,
Desire lifts high my soul;
I rose from naught, and now I’m even,
On me depends my goal.

To know my solid, loving pride
Must come from me alone,
That I must will each wid’ning stride
Through my own winning zone.

To work and fight for my own height,
And keep, and not betray,
Sets me afire with purest light
To rise a perfect day.

Yea, I am day and I am sun,
Each thought a steering beam.
And each keen hour I have won
Proclaims I’m not a dream,

But through each act, as I win more,
And up and onward go,
I make the real my wealthy store
As more and more I grow.

Dependent not on men through gods—
Those fabricated lies—
That take and give with human rods,
Pretending to be wise,

I banish from my mind their Fate,
I take their sin and shove it,
And purely in my selfish state
I live my life and love it.

They curse me, for they comprehend
That I am my own king,
My lover own and my best friend
Whose innocence I sing.

I sing no guilt, no tragedy,
No suffering or loss,
But only heights where I will be,
Where Competence is Boss.

I do not moan for errors made,
Nor plea for pity’s hug,
But lean down harder, make the grade,
From failure pull the rug!

Determination makes me go
Wherever I do will it,
And with the joy of striving so
I do the more instill it.

“But what’s the end?” Those mockers say,
“For one day you will die;
Your vaunted dreams will fall away,
Your pride ‘neathe dust will lie.”

I laugh, then speak, “You are so poor
From fear of coming death
That you must shut the vital door
That lets in living breath;

“You are so weak and angry, tired,
From holding as your truth
That naught must strongly be desired,
And joy’s a playing youth,

“That all your faces now are red,
Ashamed of what you know–
That you’re already more than dead,
Not letting living grow..

“The end of life is that, no more;
It is no cause for fear.
As long as you have will in store,.
The joy of manhood’s here.

“Accept the fact—that life does end,
But how you live is why
Your mind can be you life-long friend
Nor consciously can die.

“For man is Eden struck through Heaven,
Desire uplifts his soul;
He rises free, to work and be
His independent goal!”

Then up, good men, and fight for life,
And up and onward strive;
Each coming dawn must see again
The reason you’re alive!

Each bright’ning day must be your day,
Each wind, your breathing true,
And every act must feel the sway
Of thinking that is you!

Then up, be strong, partake not vice;
Your great desires sing;
Let waste away foul sacrifice
And crown yourself your king!

Old royalty in this was right,
In this one thing was best—
The loyal, grand, heroic knight
Alone must pass each test.

Dependent on no other source,
He won his lady’s hand,
For he—the sun of his own force—
Death’s shadows could withstand.

Then up, good men, and fight for life,
And up and onward strive;
Each coming dawn must see again
The reason you’re alive!