Classic Poem

No mountains can stand in the way of a man
Who has an idea in his head,
No whirlwinds can blow him away from his plan
When he has an idea in his head.
He is scared by no menace of mountainous seas
Or the heavens sowing thunderbolts wide on the breeze —
If his idea is large, it is larger than these —
When he has an idea in his head.

The loud sons of thunder may bellow their wrath
When he has an idea in his head,
The tumult of tongues welter over his path
When he has an idea in his head;
The sound of the shouters may sound in his ear,
The blare of the babblers environ him near —
He stalks through their jangle with never a fear,
When he has an idea in his head.

He has looked in the face of the famine and smiled
When he has an idea in his head.
Bared his neck to the axe with a soul reconciled
When he had an idea in his head;
He has stood in the flame with a light in his eye
That outshone the fire that blazoned the sky;
They burned him to cinders — his thought did not die,
When he had an idea in his head.

Shall we padlock his lips? Shall we handcuff his hands
When he has an idea in his head?
Shall we fetter his feet and his arms with steel bands
When he has an idea in his head?
Very well; we will bind him, a feasible plan,
Let us bind him and all of his pestilent clan —
But where is the halter can tie such a man
When he has an idea in his head?

No, no; turn him loose; turn him loose among men
When he has an idea in his head;
Let him carry his message to city and glen
When he has an idea in his head.
Yes, hold back the tides from the shore, if you can,
And hold back the bolt from the cloud with your ban —
But woe to the man who would fetter the man
Who has an idea in his head.