Harshest Alp or Himalaya you may mount, to the highmost peak,
Yet break your will on a hill in your heart, and turn back from it, weak.

Winds you may brave, and weather, on the iciest precipice,
Yet strive in vain to attain, in your heart, to a ledge above shame's abyss.

Avalanche you may laugh at, or air that gives no breath,
But a straight mile to a smile in your heart is sometimes harder than death.

All despair you may master, all fear disperse or span,
Yet be, for a wrong hid long in your heart, a coward, not a man.