But ’tis not alone from nature, that the soul this power derives;
The sublimest inspiration, comes to us from human lives.
From the heroes who have struggled ’gainst temptation’s mighty power;
Battling with the wrong and evil, day by day, and hour by hour;
Till at length they stand victorious over each besetting sin;
Giving proof in daily living, of the purity within.
How such glorious lives inspire us, even though their lips are mute.
Just as sometimes o’er the spirit, does the whispering of the lute,
Sweep with power, by far more potent than can come from organ’s swell;
E’en as from the little brooklet, running through the mossy dell,