read it again : all i know , is that for twenty months , neglecting the common joys of life that fall to the lot of the humblest on this earth , i had , like the prophet of old , wrestled with the lord for my creation , for the headlands of the coast , for the darkness of the placid gulf , the light on the snows , the clouds on the sky , and for the breath of life that had to be blown into the shapes of men and women , of latin and saxon , of jew and gentile .