Opportunity

by JOHN JAMES INGALLS (1833-1900)

Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait,
Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate
Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by
Hovel, and mart, arid palace, soon or late
I knock unbidden once at every gate!

If sleeping, wake — if feasting, rise before
I turn away. It is the hour of fate,
And they who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate,
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore —
I answer not, and I return no more.

John James Ingalls was born in Massachusetts In 1833 and graduated from Williams College In 1855. Admitted to the bar in 1857, he relocated to Kansas in 1859 and took an active interest in politics, becoming a State Senator in 1862. He was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1873. He frequently contributed to leading magazines and reviews.

John Jay Ingalls Contemporaries
Emily Dickinson
Henry S. Leigh
Frank Lebby Stanton
John Hay