Fugitive Poetry. 1600–1878/The Press

The Press.

Thoughts flit and flutter through the mind,As o'er the waves the shifting wind;Trackless and traceless is their flightAs falling stars of yesternight,Or the old tidemarks on the shoreWhich other tides have rippled o'er,Yet art, by Genius trained and taught,Arrests—records the fleeting thought,Stamps on the minute or the hourA lasting, an eternal power,And to minds passing shadows givesAn influence that for ever lives.But mightiest of the mighty meansOn which the arm of Progress leans,Man's noblest mission to advance,His woes assuage, his weal enhance,His rights enforce, his wrongs redress,Mightiest of mighty is the Press.