Through mists of tears I saw the vanished Past, A sad, gray land. Low-scudding clouds were raining; And pallid phantoms wandered there complaining. "We are Regrets," they moaned. "Thy tale, amassed Through long, unhappy years, thou man that wast Once blithe and young but now art overborne By gaunt Remorse and agonized Selfscorn." Then, sobbing, faded to the lowering vast. I cried for human pity. Came there none Across the murk and mist and rain-swept marsh That never knew the wholesome light of sun, The slough of Failure, Grief, and black Disquiet, Until there croaked a voice, discordant, harsh, "Try exercise, old sport, and simpler diet." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHAMBER MUSIC: 25 by JAMES JOYCE ODE TO THE BROWN PAPER BAG by JAMES GALVIN DR. SCUDDER'S CLINICAL LECTURE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: PENNIWIT, THE ARTIST by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SONG OF THE OPEN COUNTRY by DOROTHY PARKER |