Unconquered

Deem not, O Pain, that thou shalt vanquish me,Who know each treacherous pang, each last deviceWhereby thou barr'st the way to Paradise!Inured to suffer constantlyThy joyless fellowship, I gainThe lessons only taught by Pain,And know, though broken, that my willSubdues thee still!

Man was not born the slave of things like theeAnd thy companion, Death: the livelong dayHe valiant strives, and holds ye still at bay;And when he can no longer seeFor thick'ning shadows, faint and spentHe bears his standards to his tentAnd yields ye seeming victory;But—he is free!