nellibell49
POEM: A WASTED LIFE
A WASTED LIFE
A wasted life! This sad refrain
Comes surging through my ears again;
There’s no escape from thee, though fiend;
Thou art borne to me on every wind –
A wasted life! A wasted life!
By day or night, no peace for me;
Still, still before me I can see
The fragments of the dear dead past,
Which I (Oh! fool) from me have cast –
A wasted life! A wasted life!
I’ve tried to drown in lethean drain
This ruthless voice; but all in vain;
It comes with ten-fold force again,
And brings remorse to swell and strain –
A wasted life! A wasted life!
From out this deep dark Stygian sea,
While vainly struggling to be free,
I look above, and pray that I
No more may hear that awful cry –
A wasted life! A wasted life!
(Illawarra Mercury, April 8, 1884)
