| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 768. The Making of Man |
| | | By John White Chadwick |
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| AS the insect from the rock | |
| Takes the color of its wing; | |
| As the boulder from the shock | |
| Of the ocean’s rhythmic swing | |
| Makes itself a perfect form, | 5 |
| Learns a calmer front to raise; | |
| As the shell, enamelled warm | |
| With the prism’s mystic rays, | |
| Praises wind and wave that make | |
| All its chambers fair and strong; | 10 |
| As the mighty poets take | |
| Grief and pain to build their song: | |
| Even so for every soul, | |
| Whatsoe’er its lot may be,— | |
| Building, as the heavens roll, | 15 |
| Something large and strong and free, | |
| Things that hurt and things that mar | |
| Shape the man for perfect praise; | |
| Shock and strain and ruin are | |
| Friendlier than the smiling days. | 20 |
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