Classic Poem

Oh, the swift plunge into the cool, green dark

Oh, the swift plunge into the cool, green dark—
The windy waters rushing past me, through me;
Filled with a sense of some heroic lark,
Exulting in a vigor clean and roomy.
Swiftly I rose to meet the feline sea
That sprang upon me with a hundred claws,
And grappled, pulled me down and played with me.
Then, tense and breathless in the tightening pause
When one wave grows into a toppling acre,
I dived headlong into the foremost breaker;
Pitting against a cold and turbulent strife
The feverish intensity of life. . . .
Out of the foam I lurched and rode the wave,
Swimming, hand over hand, against the wind.
I felt the sea's vain pounding, and I grinned
Knowing I was its master, not its slave!
Oh, the proud total of those lusty hours—
The give-and-take of rough and vigorous tussles
With happy sinews and rejoicing muscles;
The knowledge of my own miraculous powers;
Feeling the force in one small body bent
To curb and tame this towering element. . . .English