Men, if you strive with all your might
To keep alive your inner light,
Not let it falter, shrink or fail,
Nor in a crowd let it grow pale;
If rational you is your high truth,
Not giving way to age or youth,
Nor giving to authority
Your standard of self-sovereignty;
If all the lies of tyrant rant
Don’t leave you thinking, “No, I can’t”
But, persevering harder still,
You climb that next high rising hill;
If all the worst bad laws can do
While cutting off a clear way’s view,
Can’t blind you to the one thing right,
That you’re alive and you will fight;
If all the world stands with the dark
And you’re the last undying spark,
Then lift your feet and walk your way
And in your stride exalt your day!

Along the road of hero men
There is no going back again;
The highest purpose steers you clear
Of rationalistic doubt and fear.
No reason tells you not go on
Who are the first of man’s new dawn;
And as you seek that peak so high,
And in your climbing clasp your “I”,
The sun-god of the world will shine
And you will own the spirit—“Mine.”

You’re not of crowds and not of mass;
You don’t lie down with paling grass;
You’re not a stream of air or wind
Full lost within the sin you’ve sinned,
But rather, like a shooting star,
Or bird out-flying others far,
With single aim and vision new
The openings of space pursue,
And risk and venture, free, elate,
Beyond all reach of state and fate,
A man who’s life is more than dream,
A pure, un-mystic, self-made gleam!