Wide waters have called man's spirit
    to the farthest rim;
Our fathers founded cities where the harbours lay;
    Beside the rivers of earth built
    their homes and settlements.

From the forests of earth
    they fashioned ship and wheel, paddle and sled,
    and moved across the bosom of the land
    and ploughed the waters.
They took lithe limbs of trees and learned
    to navigate the dark spaces of the sky.

In quiet places and beside still waters
    they found rest;
And there we shall lie at the end.

O spirit that moves the flesh of men,
Bless our going out, our coming in,
and our stillness.

O spirit of transforming power
Lead us yet to the unmastered,
That earth may yeild a finer harvest
and a fairer man.

By mines and fires we have forged the metals of
    civilization and tempered the steel of progress.
By secrets of nature and of science we have illumined
    our darkness and lightened our labour.
By medicine of herb and formula, by the healing of
    cell and the nourishment of blood, we have been
    patient to still the pain and mend the broken body.
By assembly of men in court and parliament,
    by industry and commerce, we have built community
    and bound it by contract and by law.

Teach us how to temper the steel of failing character
    how to melt the ores of hatred,
    how to fuse the sundered elements of society,
    how to bridge the faults of division,
    how to heal the wounds of prejudice.

Lead us further still:
    By rivers of quietness in the mind;
    By hills of aspiration in the soul;
    And by valleys of decision in the will.

To you, my sons, I leave the earth.
I cannot give you pick and parcel of it.
My patrimony knows no moities,
No dividing by degree, or minute or second.
I will be magnanimous and bequeath to you
The whole.

Already I have given you eyes.
Pick your own possession of land or sea or sky.
Fill your gaze with morning's curtain,
With noon's high entersrise,
And with the purple stains of night.

I have given you limbs.
Pace out your parcel starting from the Pole.
Tread out your claim in ice and snow.
Top the summits of your chosen peaks with cairns.
Stake out your bounty in acres of sweet grass.
March your measures across immeasurable sands.

I have given you hands.
Hold your inheritance with tender grasp;
Do not bury it in cold and careful vaults
Away from the touch of you.
Feel the grip of agglomerate rock
And silk serenity of sea-wet pebble.
Let warm grains of sand trickle through
The hour-glass of your fingers.
Feel the roughness of unplaned timber
Yield its golden grain to your dusty hands.

I have given you mind
To make the codicils of eye and limb and hand
Into a rich bequest.
Go; possess the earth twice over;
Once in wide surveying
And once in wise remembering.

I have given you family.
Have faith that all are kin under the broad skies
    of earth.
Honour the company of those who nurture the bequest
    of beauty.
Hold conversation with those who make the languages
    of men a legacy of life.
Invest your gain in the bonds of brotherhood.