Classic Poem

CXXX

If chance assigned
Were to my mind
By very kind
Of destiny,
Yet would I crave
Naught else to have
But only life and liberty.

Then were I sure
I might endure
The displeasure
Of cruelty;
Where now I plain,
Alas, in vain,
Lacking my life for liberty.

For without th'one
Th'other is gone
And there can none
It remedy.
If th'one be past
Th'other doth waste
And all for lack of liberty.

And so I drive
As yet alive
Although I strive
With misery,
Drawing my breath,
Looking for death
And loss of life for liberty.

But thou that still
Mayst at thy will
Turn all this ill
Adversity,
For the repair
Of my welfare
Grant me but life and liberty.

And if not so
Then let all go
To wretched woe
And let me die.
For th'one or th'other,
There is none other —
My death, or life with liberty.