Poems (Cary)/Dissatisfied

For works with similar titles, see Dissatisfied.
DISSATISFIED.
For me, in all life's desert sandNo well is made, no tent is spread;No father's nor a brother's handIs laid in blessing on my head.The radiance of my mortal starIs crossed with signs of woe to me,And all my thoughts and wishes areSad wanderers toward eternity.
Stricken, riven helplessly apartFrom all that blest the path I trod;Oh tempt me, tempt me not, my heart,To arraign the goodness of my God!For suffering hath been made sublime,And souls, that lived and died alone,Have left an echo for all time,As they went wailing to the throne.
There have been moments when I daredBelieve life's mystery a breath,And deem Faith's beauteous bosom baredTo the betraying arms of Death; For the immortal life but mocksThe soul that feels its ruin dire,And like a tortured demon rocksUpon the cradling waves of fire.To mine is pressed no loving lip,Around me twines no helping arm;And like a frail dismasted shipI blindly drift before the storm.