You have come at last to the Ladder of Swords!
Will you find a friend? One friend alone,
Flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone,
The last strange Courage that mocks Despair,
That hunts the wolf with the wounded hare,
That throws your life in the jaws of death
To snatch it back in a single breath.
Blinded no longer by pomp and words,
You shall go up stark to the Ladder of Swords!