Purpose

  strong in thy steadfast purpose, be     Like some brave master of the sea, Whose keel, by Titan pulses quickened, knows     His will where’er he goes. Some isle, palm-roofed, in spiced Pacific air He seeks—though solitary zones apart, Its place long fixed on his deep-studied chart.   Fierce winds, your wild confusion make!   Waves, wroth with tide and tempest, shake     His iron-wrought hull aside! However driven, to that far island fair (His compass not more faithful than his heart)   He makes his path the ocean wide—     His prow is always there!