Classic Poem

WHEREIN HE AFFIRMS HIS INVINCIBLE DEVOTION

Place me where the sun shrivels grass and flower,
Or where the ice and snow are marble kings,
Or where his golden chariot glides on wings,
Where he refrains, where lingers a long hour;
Place me where fortunes laugh, where fortunes glower,
In the soft air, or in the air that stings;
Place me in night, in day that darts or clings,
In the ripe summer or the season sour.
Place me in heaven, on earth, in the abyss,
On a high hill or in a dungeon valley,
A liberal spirit or a flesh-bound flame;
Place me where fame is faint, where loud is fame:
Still will I be as I have been ere this!
Still sigh the years out, still despair, still dally!