My life is mine,
In each part mine;
It’s wholly mine
And only mine—
Each day of it,
Each month of it,
Each year of it.
Each breath I take.
Each step I make,
Is for my sake.
In my control
The end and goal
Of my whole soul
Is life of me
And joy of me
In being free
To think and act
On this one fact—
That I’m alive
To dream and drive,
To work and thrive,
To fail sometime,
Succeed in time,
With every climb
A harder fight
To cleaner height
Made by my might
Of moral right–
A step made free
By only me,
Who owes no grace
To human race
Or mystic place
Of mind’s debase,
But to my will–
My thought– that still
Goes on uphill
With love of real,
With all I feel
For my ideal.
My height is mine,
My love is mine,
My joy is mine.
I am the sign
Of self-design,
The standard rare
That waves in air,
The banner free
Of holy me,
Self-worshipping
In songs I sing
That sound and wing
And clasp afar
The radiant star
“Heroic Man.”
I am Began,
I am I Rise,
I am my eyes,
My mind, my feet.
I’ll not retreat
I’ll not give in,
And I will win!