Feat

Prowess is never so redoubtable
As when known to progress by
Imperceptible degrees, little by
Little until the most remarkable
Deed becomes the demonstrable
Byproduct of some humble
Routine, a process so intangible
As to resemble an invisible
Bulwark against the most formidable
Mortal trial, the same principle by
Which days are said to crawl by
And yet fly—as when a little boy
Ambling by the family stable
Hefts a calf’s bony wobble
Without a lick of trouble
And proceeds to test his mettle by
Making it his indefatigable
Daily constitutional, until by
And by he’s the veritable
Stuff of fable, that invincible
Classical grappler hailed by
His people as impossible
To topple from his pedestal, thereby
Lending a little less inconceivable
Or a thimbleful more irresistible
Weight to those who swear by
How he keeps in fighting trim by
Toting on his back a bull.