Weary of myself, and sick of asking <br />What I am, and what I ought to be, <br />At this vessel's prow I stand, which bears me <br />Forwards, forwards, o'er the starlit sea. <br /> <br />And a look of passionate desire <br />O'er the sea and to the stars I send: <br />'Ye who from my childhood up have calm'd me, <br />Calm me, ah, compose me to the end! <br /> <br />'Ah, once more,' I cried, 'ye stars, ye waters, <br />On my heart your mighty charm renew; <br />Still, still let me, as I gaze upon you, <br />Feel my soul becoming vast like you!' <br /> <br />From the intense, clear, star-sown vault of heaven, <br />Over the lit sea's unquiet way, <br />In the rustling night-air came the answer: <br />'Wouldst thou be as these are? Live as they. <br /> <br />'Unaffrighted by the silence round them, <br />Undistracted by the sights they see, <br />These demand not that the things without them <br />Yield them love, amusement, sympathy. <br /> <br />'And with joy the stars perform their shining, <br />And the sea its long moon-silver'd roll; <br />For self-poised they live, nor pine with noting <br />All the fever of some differing soul. <br /> <br />'Bounded by themselves, and unregardful <br />In what state God's other works may be, <br />In their own tasks all their powers pouring, <br />These attain the mighty life you see.' <br /> <br />O air-born voice! long since, severely clear, <br />A cry like thine in mine own heart I hear: <br />'Resolve to be thyself; and know that he, <br />Who finds himself, loses his misery!'<br /><br />Matthew Arnold<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/self-dependence/
