Defeat
Kahlil Gibran
1883 to 1931
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Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude and my aloofness;
You dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,
And sweeter my heart than all world-glory.
Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance,
Through you I know that I yet young and swift of foot
And not to trapped by withering laurels.
And in you I have aloneness
And the joy of being shunned and scorned.
Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield,
In your I have read
That to be enthroned is to enslaved,
And to be understood is to be leveled down,
And to be grasped is but to reach one’s
And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.
Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,
You shall hear songs and my cries and my silences,
And none you shall speak to me of the beating of wings,
And urging of seas,
And of mountains that burn the night,
And you alone shall climb my steep rocky soul.
Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,
You I shall laugh together with the storm,
And together shall dig graves for all that die in us,
we shall stand in the sun with a will,
we shall be dangerous.