We have no vision of end
or defeat .
No flaw for arrow to seek
in armour made from
radiance of a thousand stars .
☆
Defiant and mercurial ,
when even bloodied and in strife .
Sweet shifting of the Blessed Worm
in the cold , cold ground .
☆
So , the Imperfect Vessel ,
having stumbled , moves on ,
with all his piety and wit ,
unable to cancel out
a single memory of it .
☆
Imploring to Heaven
for Her pure guiding light ,
while rounding to face the storm ,
now the enemy is in sight .
the third stanza references a verse from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khyayyam ... the first poetry book I ever read ... and possibly the first book I ever saw .