Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume VI. Fancy. 1904. | | | | Poems of Sentiment: II. Life | | Opportunity | | John James Ingalls (1833–1900) |
| | | MASTER of human destinies am I. | |
| Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait. | |
| Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate | |
| Deserts and seas remote, and passing by | |
| Hovel, and mart, and palace—soon or late | 5 |
| I knock unbidden once at every gate! | |
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| If sleeping, wake—if feasting, rise before | |
| I turn away. It is the hour of fate, | |
| And they who follow me reach every state | |
| Mortals desire, and conquer every foe | 10 |
| Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate, | |
| Condemned to failure, penury, and woe, | |
| Seek me in vain and uselessly implore— | |
| I answer not, and I return no more. | | | | |
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