The harrowing years

This I have learnt:
World forces all of us down
The fleeing years bend our backs
Love but smears our hearts

Here I now lie still like a broken bow
Soul sullen and rigid with the will to die
Sighing after the days long since gone
Cursing every step on this ill-fated trail

In vain I try to forget, In vain I try to forgive
Black bird from evening sky, raven from heaths of night
Come and take my cares, carry away the grief
Bereave me of my woes, rend off these earthly throes
Fly them to deepest lakes, to the starlit shores

This I have learnt
Even the sweetest wine turns to sour
We work our fingers to the bone
All our efforts of no avail

Here we all are but troubled guests
On darkling earth
Lost echoes that pine away
Into the dusk
Nothing more than the wind to rely on
Nothing more than the death
to comfort us in the end

This I have heard:
All ends in serene sleep
All these sorrows are washed away
As we lapse into the night

But I know it's a lie