This is a poem by Sri Aurobindo written when he was in Alipore jail (~1909). It expresses a deep sentiment- one that comes to a great leader of men - at the start of a vaster struggle, a higher ascent, who will come with him? To tread on a journey to a height from which the struggles and the differences and the dissinant noises of the plains below pale away, but the path is one of daring and courage...
Invitation
With wind and the weather beating round me
Up to the hill and the moorland I go.
Who will come with me? Who will climb with me?
Wade through the brook and tramp through the snow?
Not in the petty circle of cities
Cramped by your doors and your walls I dwell;
Over me God is blue in the welkin,
Against me the wind and the storm rebel.
I sport with solitude here in my regions,
Of misadventure have made me a friend.
Who would live largely? Who would live freely?
Here to the wind-swept uplands ascend.
I am the Lord of tempest and mountain,
I am the Spirit of freedom and pride.
Stark must he be and a kinsman to danger
Who shares my kingdom and walks at my side.
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