Alexander Pope Quote

Boast not my fall (he cried), insulting foe!
Thou by some other shalt be laid as low;
Nor think to die dejects my lofty mind;
All that I dread is leaving you behind!
Rather than so, ah let me still survive,
And burn in Cupid's flames — but burn alive.

Canto V, line 97. - The Rape of the Lock (1712, revised 1714 and 1717)