“MUSCULAR STRENGTH COMPARED WITH THE POWERS OF THE MIND.
'Twere well if thoughts were like mechanic powers,
And double mind made double knowledge ours.
Two men at levers placed of equal length,
Their equal efforts joined, have double strength;
And two to these we gain the strength of four,
So in proportion with a thousand more;
As here combined, their pressure gives of course,
At one fixed point, one time, their whole united force.
'Tis thus their sinewy strength the sailors show,
Who gain an extra power with “Yoe, heave ho.”
But 'tis not so with MINDS,– these stand alone;
And two, though joined, have but the strength of one,
No “Yoe heave” here can help the other on!...”
[Poetic Flowers, Sandham, 1815]