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Go, take thine angle, and with practised line,
Light as the gossamer, the current
sweep;
And if thou failest in the calm, still
deep,
In the rough eddy may a prize be thine.
Say thou'rt unlucky where the sunbeams shine;
Beneath the shadow where the waters
creep
Perchance the monarch of the brook shall
leap—
For Fate is ever better than Design.
Still persevere; the giddiest breeze that blows
For thee may blow with fame and fortune
rife.
Be prosperous; and what reck if it arose
Out of some pebble with the stream at
strife,
Or that the light wind dallied with the boughs:
Thou art successful—such is human
life.
Doubleday.
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