Hadst thou a ship, in whose vast hold lay stored <br />The priceless riches of all climes and lands, <br />Say, woudst thou let it float upon the seas <br />Unpiloted, of fickle winds the sport, <br />And of wild waves and hidden rocks the prey? <br /> <br />Thine is that ship; and in its depths concealed <br />Lies all the wealth of this vast universe – <br />Yea, lies some part of God’s omnipotence <br />The legacy divine of every soul. <br />Thy will, O man, thy will is that great ship, <br />And yet behold it drifting here and there – <br />One moment lying motionless in port, <br />Then on high seas by sudden impulse flung, <br /> <br />Then drying on the sands, and yet again <br />Sent forth on idle quests to no-man’s land <br />To carry nothing and to nothing bring; <br />Till worn and fretted by the aimless strife <br />And buffeted by vacillating winds <br />It flounders on a rock, or springs a leak <br />With all its unused treasures in the hold. <br /> <br />Go save thy ship, thou sluggard; that the wheel <br />And steer to knowledge, glory and success. <br />Great mariners have made the pathway plain <br />For thee to follow; hold thou to the course <br />Of Concentration Channel, and all things <br />Shall come in answer to thy swerveless wish <br />As comes the needle to the magnet’s call, <br />Or sunlight to the prisoned blade of grass <br />That yearns all winter for the kiss of spring.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/thy-ship/
