Unsubdued by S.E. Kiser

I have hoped, I have planned, I have striven,
To the will I have added the deed;
The best that was in me I've given,
I have prayed, but the gods would not heed.

I have dared and reached only disaster,
I have battled and broken my lance;
I am bruised by a pitiless master
That the weak and the timid call Chance.

I am old, I am bent, I am cheated
Of all that Youth urged me to win;
But name me not with the defeated,
To-morrow again, I begin.

This poem is truly inspirational to me.  Kiser first tells of how he has been put down, he says "The best that was in me I've given, I have prayed, but the gods would not heed."  Here he is telling us that even though he has given everything that he has, he just can't seem to catch a break.  Kiser then goes on to say "I am bruised by a pitiless master that the weak and the timid call Chance."  Here Kiser is reinforcing the theme of his seemingly hopeless struggle against fate.  He is telling us that chance/fate has beaten him down, and he calls it his master, implying that it controls him.  Then, in the last stanza, he again admits his frailty.  "I am old, I am bent, I am cheated of all that youth urged me to win."  Here Kiser admits that he is in a very low place.  He is essentially admitting that he has been beaten.  But then in the last two lines he says: "But name me not with the defeated, To-morrow again, I begin."  Here, Kiser rises out of this darkness, and tells us that tomorrow, he will begin again.  He is telling us that not only will he survive through the night, but he will rise again with the daw, to face whatever may come.