For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is torture
Of restlessness and vague desire--
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.
Masters writes down and speaks for the many epolpe who go trhough life wondering and pondering their purpose in life. Is life lived to find their true love? Is it to allow oneself to be vulnerable? The truth is that in order for one to know what one's future holds, one will have to take charge of one's life. If everyone didn't take charge of their life, it would make Masters' poem the story of life, but because only few tend not to rise up to their true potential they never get to succeed.
