Once I was far in thought of what I’d be,
Yet conflicted that too far was I to be anybody.
But a hope sprung forth when I saw the need
Of hope in the hopeless whose pain all have seen;
I rose out of a daydream state like a man from a stupor,
Popping my bubble for my eyes to see the horror;
How should I ignore the worm named hunger?
Or the jaws of cold; he devours the unclothed?

There is a way I shall walk to succeed in my vision,
Where strangers shall be touched by love’s gentle touch;
Though recall I must a Proverb which has arisen,
“Desire without knowledge is not good,” says the Judge.
So instruction I need; knowledge, wisdom and fourth, humility,
To reach a higher education far from foolish ignorance;
For to give, receiving is done first, and to teach, I’ve to learn much;
With apathy I will falter unless I become a fire-heart scholar.

And what, I ask myself, what am I to do after education?
Ah, business with the nations is a future concerned with me;
A striving to multiply wealth through wealth of my comprehension,
Yes, this is the path for me; I cannot, like a rat, go flee.
She that is docked for good is useless unless, unless
Her merchant fills her with treasures of the earth;
His trade will slay the worm, jaws of cold, and hope’s darkness;
That merchant of nations, I care to be, before the earth devours me!