Classic Poem

Vain gift, vain gift of blindest chance,
Life, why wert thou granted me?
Or why, by fate's supreme decree,
Wert thou foredoomed to sorrow?

Alas, what god's unfriendly power
Called me forth from nothingness,
My troubled soul with passion filled,
Made my mind a prey to doubt?

An aimless future lies before,
Dry my heart and void my mind,
My soul is dwarfed and crushed beneath
Life's dull riot monotone.