I have sought Happiness, but it has been br A lovely rainbow, baffling all pursuit, br And tasted Pleasure, but it was a fruit br More fair of outward hue than sweet within. br Renouncing both, a flake in the ferment br Of battling hosts that conquer or recoil, br There only, chastened by fatigue and toil, br I knew what came the nearest to content. br For there at least my troubled flesh was free br From the gadfly Desire that plagued it so; br Discord and Strife were what I used to know, br Heartaches, deception, murderous jealousy; br By War transported far from all of these, br Amid the clash of arms I was at peace.