<h2><SPAN name="poem30"></SPAN>FATE AND I</h2>
<p class="poetry">Wise men tell me thou, O Fate,<br/>
Art invincible and great.</p>
<p class="poetry">Well, I own thy prowess; still<br/>
Dare I flout thee with my will</p>
<p class="poetry">Thou canst shatter in a span<br/>
All the earthly pride of man.</p>
<p class="poetry">Outward things thou canst control;<br/>
But stand back—I rule my soul!</p>
<p class="poetry">Death? ’Tis such a little
thing—<br/>
Scarcely worth the mentioning.</p>
<p class="poetry">What has death to do with me,<br/>
Save to set my spirit free?</p>
<p class="poetry">Something in me dwells, O Fate,<br/>
That can rise and dominate</p>
<p class="poetry">Loss, and sorrow, and disaster,—<br/>
How, then, Fate, art thou my master?</p>
<p class="poetry">In the great primeval morn<br/>
My immortal will was born,</p>
<p class="poetry">Part of that stupendous Cause<br/>
Which conceived the Solar Laws,</p>
<p class="poetry">Lit the suns and filled the seas,<br/>
Royalest of pedigrees.</p>
<p class="poetry">That great Cause was Love, the Source<br/>
Who most loves has most of Force.</p>
<p class="poetry">He who harbours Hate one hour<br/>
Saps the soul of Peace and Power.</p>
<p class="poetry">He who will not hate his foe<br/>
Need not dread life’s hardest blow.</p>
<p class="poetry">In the realm of brotherhood<br/>
Wishing no man aught but good,</p>
<p class="poetry">Naught but good can come to me—<br/>
This is Love’s supreme decree.</p>
<p class="poetry">Since I bar my door to Hate,<br/>
What have I to fear, O Fate?</p>
<p class="poetry">Since I fear not—Fate I vow,<br/>
I the ruler am, not thou!</p>
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