This chapter's epigraph is from the opening lines of the novel, "God Bless You!" . It's a quote from a famous poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow's poem is about the power of the soul, and it's one of the most famous poems of all time. In this passage, Longfellow says that if he hadn't been able to use his soul power to help the maras, he wouldn't be able to kill the young master. In fact, he says, he'd rather die than live in misery. In other words, he doesn't want to be the one who kills the master. He wants to be a part of the story, so he's going to do whatever he can to help. He's not going to let the young man kill him. He just wants to help him.