A Ballad of Choosing in White Stains by Aleister Crowley.

“Christ came to me, alone and sorrowful,
And offered me a cross, saying to me,
‘I have great joys to give most bountiful.
Carry this through the world, and when the sea
Of death is past, then is prepared for thee
A house of many mansions.’ My desire
Hid not from me the vileness of his plea:—
‘Thou has a guerdon, is it not for hire?'” [via]

Consider also:

  1. “Fame brought a golden crown, bejeweled o’er With precious rubies beyond price, and cried ‘The world is young, thy name shall evermore Ring in men’s ears, stately and glorified’ But I, with shuddering lips, to him replied ‘Fame is the amaranth that fools desire My soul’s price is beyond thy jewel’s pride Thou has a guerdon, is it not for hire?'”
  2. “Wealth brought to me a purse, whose glancing gold Mocked the sun’s rays, grown dull as iron rust, And pressed it in my hand, saying ‘Behold The corner-stone of fame, the means of lust’ And I ‘In thee I put but little trust Shameful, most vile, accursed of God’s ire, Dross of the dunghill’s most detested dust, Thou has a guerdon, is it not for hire?'”
  3. “Love brought a garland to my feet to-day Offering to crown my head withal, and said: ‘The year is young, it is the time of May, Autumn is distant, and the winter, dead’ And would therewith my brows have garlanded But that I asked him ‘Is not this a fire To burn the scorched brain through my maddened head? Thou has a guerdon, is it not for hire?'”
  4. “Give Ear, give Ear attentively; the Will is not lost; though it be buried beneath a life-old Midden of Repressions, for it persisteth vital within thee (is it not the true Motion of thine inmost Being?) and for all thy conscious Striving cometh forth by Night and by Stealth in Dream and Phantasy.”
  5. “Now is it naked and brilliant, now clothed in rich Robes of Symbol and Hieroglyph; but always travelleth it with thee upon thy Path, ready to acquaint thee with thy true Nature, if thou attend unto its Word, its Gesture, or its Show of Imagery.”