Death and the Lady

RN in, my lord, she said ;     As it were the Father of Sin   I have hated the Father of the Dead,     The slayer of my kin ;   By the Father of the Living led,     Turn in, my lord, turn in.   We were foes of old ; thy touch was cold,     But mine is warm as life ;   I have struggled and made thee loose thy hold,    I have turned aside the knife.  Despair itself in me was bold,    I have striven, and won the strife.  But that which conquered thee and rose    Again to earth descends ;  For the last time we have come to blows.    And the long combat ends.  The worst and secretest of foes,    Be now my friend of friends.