Playboy by Robert William Service
I greet the challenge of the dawn With weary, bleary eyes; Into the sky so ashen wan I wait the sun to rise; Then in the morning's holy hush, With heart of shame I hear A robin from a lilac bush Pipe pure and clear. All night in dive and dicing den, With wantons and with wine I've squandered on wild, witless men The fortune that was mine; The gold my father fought to save In folly I have spent; And now to fill a pauper's grave My steps are bent.
See! how the sky is amber bright! The thrushes thrill their glee. The dew-drops sparkle with delight, And yonder smiles the sea. Oh let me plunge to drown the pain Of love and faith forgot: Then purged I may return again, --Or I may not.
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