you are what you beat

Will

by James Allen

(from the book, "As A Man Thinketh")

You will be what you "will" to be.
Let failure find its false content,
In that poor word "environment,"
But spirit scorns it and is free.

It conquers time, it masters space,
It cowls that boastful trickster "chance"
And bids the tyrant "circumstance"
Uncrowned, to take a servant's place.

The human will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless soul,
Can work away at any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delay,
But wait, as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
The gods are ready to obey.