Superiority to Fate — Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau was a tax resister. He subsisted on the simplest until his tax-free paradise.

Superiority to Fate ¹
Is difficult to gain
'Tis not conferred of Any
But possible to earn

A pittance at a time ⁵
Until to Her surprise
The Soul with strict economy
Subsist till Paradise.

(F.1043/J.1081)

[1] Superiority to Fate:: a simple life proposed by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862).
[2, 8] gain, Paradise:: a hint on Thoreau's Paradise (to be) Regained (1843).
[3, 4, 5] earn, pittance:: Thoreau's simple life in Walden Woods from 1845 to 1847.
[6] Her surprise:: the government's surprise for Thoreau as a tax resister.
[7] economy:: Thoreau's Walden (1854) describes his experiment of an economy life.
[8] Paradise::  Thoreau regained his paradise without tax after his death. This poem was written around 1865.