There was dust, there were boulders,
There was wind, there were seas;
There were stars and far planets,
There were mountains and trees;
But there wasn’t a spirit
For the using of these.

Then came man, began thinking,
‘Gan desiring to thrive,
And with logical seeking
Came his spirit alive.
And with mind-soul inquiring
What the earth had to give,
He struck leaves into firing
In a triumph all his!

Then his spirit was able,
And he saw it was good,—
That his willed thinking power
Was a moral, “I should,”
And the earth had a wonder
Not of stone or of wood,
Nor of space nor of air,–
Not a god lost in thunder,
But a man who was there!

All the universe, lonely,
Void of spirit of Man,
Lies in wait for he only
Who can do what he can,
Who with sending of spirit
Through his telescope’s eye
Can clasp what’s appearing
And it identify!

Lo, the mind’s not fake magic,
It is lover of real,
Not fools’ mystical fashion,
But fueled passion ideal,
An ability winging
That through reason makes great
The large soul of man singing
That no louse can abate.

All the work of man’s spirit
Is right here to be seen,
To be used as we steer it,
Leading past where we’ve been;
To be used for our joying
And our lives upon earth,
While what’s fresh from our being
Becomes dues to our worth.

Let us pay every minute;
Let no day come and go
When we’re not here to win it—
What our spirits can show.
We’re not lost, we’re not hidden,
We’re not mist in a cloud;
We’re the man-soul self-bidden
With our thinking unbowed!

There is dust, there are boulders,
There is wind, there are seas;
There are stars and far planets,
There are mountains and trees,
And Man’s mighty spirit
For the using of these!