Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TAEDIUM VITAE, by LEWIS MORRIS (1833-1907)


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TAEDIUM VITAE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Weary of life! Ah! Wherefore live
Last Line: But one dull longing for the end.
Subject(s): Weariness; Fatigue


WEARY of life! Ah! wherefore live
If Age and Suffering rack the frame,
If Pleasure holds no gain to give,
If Honours pall and with them Fame;

If Riches fly and Love be gone,
Nor ray of sunshine gild the gloom,
Why linger miserably on,
Why longer cheat the open tomb?
But Pain may cease and Time bring Health,
And rising Hope expel Despair,
Again the golden glow of wealth
May rout the gathered clouds of care.

Not these, the pains which breed disgust
Of living, but the ingratitude,
Of child or friend, the shattered trust,
The links once broken ne'er renewed.
The Faith once living drowned and dead,
Too long on life's dark waters tost,
The glory dimmed, the vision fled,
The inner voices mute and lost.

These leave us, lonely desolate,
Bankrupt of hope, and love, and friend,
With nothing from the wreck of Fate
But one dull longing for the End.





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