Fear death?---to feel the fog in my throat, <br />The mist in my face, <br />When the snows begin, and the blasts denote <br />I am nearing the place, <br />The power of the night, the press of the storm, <br />The post of the foe; <br />Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form; <br />Yet the strong man must go: <br />For the journey is done and the summit attained, <br />And the barriers fall, <br />Though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained, <br />The reward of it all. <br />I was ever a fighter, so---one fight more, <br />The best and the last! <br />I would hate that Death bandaged my eyes, and forbore, <br />And made me creep past. <br />No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers, <br />The heroes of old, <br />Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears <br />Of pain, darkness and cold. <br />For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave. <br />The black minute's at end, <br />And the elements' rage, the fiend voices that rave, <br />Shall dwindle, shall blend, <br />Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain. <br />Then a light, then thy breat, <br />O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again, <br />And with God be the rest!<br /><br />Robert Browning<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/prospice/
