Classic Poem

I will hew great spaces for my soul,
Hours of majesty, aisles of beauty;
Out of the solid universe will I hew them
That my perishing soul may pass through them,
That my passionate spirit have room to grow,
That the mind of me may not suffer so,
That I faint not here 'mid the pitiful round of duty—
I will hew great spaces, marvelous places, for my soul.

I will hew great paths for my soul,
Out of the shining ether, keen as quicksilver, solid as steel,
To know what the Void may reveal.
My soul that is shrivelling here on earth
Must have fresh birth.
That the claims of earth may not bind me,
That death may not find me,
I will hew great spaces, huge places of life for my soul.
I will seek me a way no man has trod,
I will blaze new trails to the heart of God.
That my soul may walk wider ways than earth,
My soul and the souls of the world—
I will challenge the Void where the secrets of life are furled,
I will cleave new paths, that all may have fresh birth

I will hew great windows for my soul,
Channels of splendor, portals of release;
Out of earth's prison walls will I hew them,
That my thundering soul may push through them;
Through stratas of human strife and passion
I will tunnel a way, I will carve and fashion
With the might of my soul's intensity
Windows fronting immensity,
Towering out of Time.
I will breathe the air of another clime
That my spirit's pain may cease
That the being of me have room to grow,
That my eyes may meet God's eyes and know,
I will hew great windows, wonderful windows, measureless windows, for my soul.

I will weave great melodies for my soul,
Storms of harmony, hurricanes of feeling;
Out of the cosmic rhythm will I choir them,
Infinity's breath shall inspire them
And chorusing orbs in their wheeling
That the sadness of earth may not 'numb me
And grief overcome me,
Here where terror and strife abound
I will mount and mount on wings of sound;
I will soar on symphonies of might,
Lifted and carried
Where whirlwinds are married
To challenge the worlds in their flight.
That earth may hear and rejoice
I will summon the stars for their voice;
I will marshal the music of manifold spheres,
I will capture the chords of the thundering years,
From the course where Aldebaran runs
I will summon the suns.

I will range the abysm from sun to sod,
Spaces ringing and singing with God,
To the uttermost bounds of being,
Past earthly sense and seeing,
Till my passionate spirit has found at last
A splendid place in the splendid vast.
I, I, the immeasurable I, greater than suns or stars or spaces,
Born of Creation's boundless places,
I, who am perishing here on earth,
I will rend my way to a larger birth.
Fetters and bars, I will shout my way through them;
Planets and stars, like chaff will I strew them.
That my spirit may hugely survive,
For I am alive, alive!