From “The Swimmers”
by Louis Untermeyer

Then the swift plunge into the cool green dark,
the windy waters rushing past me, through me;
Filled with the sense of some heroic lark,
exulting in a vigor clean and roomy.
Swiftly I rose to meet the feline sea…
Pitting against a cold turbulent strife,
The feverish intensity of life…

Out of the foam I lurched and rode the wave
Swimming hand over hand, over hand, against the wind;
I felt the sea’s vain pounding, and I grinned
knowing I was its master, not its slave.