Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (18331908). A Victorian Anthology, 18371895. 1895. | | Prospice | | Robert Browning (181289) | | | FEAR death?to feel the fog in my throat, | | The mist in my face, | | When the snows begin, and the blasts denote | | I am nearing the place, | | The power of the night, the press of the storm, | 5 | The post of the foe; | | Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form, | | Yet the strong man must go: | | For the journey is done and the summit attaind, | | And the barriers fall, | 10 | Though a battles to fight ere the guerdon be gaind, | | The reward of it all. | | I was ever a fighter, soone fight more, | | The best and the last! | | I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore, | 15 | And bade me creep past. | | No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers | | The heroes of old, | | Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad lifes arrears | | Of pain, darkness and cold. | 20 | For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave, | | The black minutes at end, | | And the elements rage, the fiend-voices that rave, | | Shall dwindle, shall blend, | | Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain. | 25 | Then a light, then thy breast, | | O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again, | | And with God be the rest! | | | |
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