I greet the challenge of the dawn <br /> With weary, bleary eyes; <br />Into the sky so ashen wan <br /> I wait the sun to rise; <br />Then in the morning's holy hush, <br /> With heart of shame I hear <br />A robin from a lilac bush <br /> Pipe pure and clear. <br /> <br />All night in dive and dicing den, <br /> With wantons and with wine <br />I've squandered on wild, witless men <br /> The fortune that was mine; <br />The gold my father fought to save <br /> In folly I have spent; <br />And now to fill a pauper's grave <br /> My steps are bent. <br /> <br />See! how the sky is amber bright! <br /> The thrushes thrill their glee. <br />The dew-drops sparkle with delight, <br /> And yonder smiles the sea. <br />Oh let me plunge to drown the pain <br /> Of love and faith forgot: <br />Then purged I may return again, <br /> --Or I may not.<br /><br />Robert William Service<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/playboy-2/
