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