Randall Jarrell Quote

Death and the devil, what are these to him?
His being accuses him — and yet his face is firm
In resolution, in absolute persistence;
The folds of smiling do for steadiness;
The face is its own fate — a man does what he must —
And the body underneath it says: I am.

"The Knight, Death and the Devil," lines 34-39 - The Seven-League Crutches (1951)