Unconquered

DEEM not, O Pain, that thou shalt vanquish me,Who know each treacherous pang, each last device,Whereby thou barrest 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 thickening shadows, faint and spentHe bears his standard to his tentAnd yields ye seeming victory;But—he is free!