Not in the fabled influence of some star, 
Benign or evil, do our fortunes lie; 
We are the arbiters of destiny, 
Lords of the life we either make or mar. 
We are our own impediment and bar 
To noble endings. With distracted eye 
We let the golden moment pass us by, 
Time's foolish spendthrifts, searching wide and far 
For what lies close at hand. To serve our turn 
We ask fair wind and favorable tide. 
From the dead Danish sculptor let us learn 
To make Occasion, not to be denied: 
Against the sheer precipitous mountain-side 
Thorwaldsen carved his Lion at Lucerne.