"As tales oft told we bring to end our years With deep and mournful sighs. Their numbered hours We clutch in vain; they wane and fade as flowers, Gathered, droop and die. Neither prayers nor tears Avail us aught," so First, bent low with fears. "We strive, but fail; we seek nor is it ours To find. We cry aloud to heavenly powers To strengthen bruised reed; cruel Death appears And rends the breaking heart. In ashes lies The house our hands had built so hopefully, And from its ruins the baleful spectres rise To jest and mock the soul's adversity. We wait in dread the dark! God fails, Truth dies, Death wins! Fate holds us in captivity!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: LAMBERT HUTCHINS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPRING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE by CLAUDE MCKAY BEARS AT RASPBERRY TIME by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE BIRDS DO THUS by ROBERT FROST SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ALONZO CHURCHILL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |