O Let Me Ever Live in Defiance of the World

O let me ever live in defiance of the world,
Spitting in contempt and seething with rage,
Burning too brilliantly for any cage.

O let me ever live in defiance of the world,
Turning always for the ways untrod-
Not shackled by man or beast or god.

O let me ever live in defiance of the world,
Too furious to give in to fear,
Unbroken even when the end is near.

O let me ever live in defiance of the world,
The tears I shed, of love for the dead,
Keeping them alive in my heart and my head.

O let me ever live in defiance of the world,
Running whenever sluggards abide,
But unshakable rock before the tide.

O let me ever live in defiance of the world;
And if, at last, my fury is spent,
May ashes still choke everywhere that I went.