Night Thoughts 1 Poem by John Boyle O'Reilly

Have I no future left me?
Is there no struggling ray
From the sun of my life outshining
Down on my darksome way?

Will there no gleam of sunshine
Cast o'er my path its light?
Will there no star of hope rise
Out of this gloom of night?

Have I 'gainst heaven's warnings
Sinfully, madly rushed?
Else why thus were my heart strings severed?
Why was my love-light crushed?

Oh! I have hopes and yearnings—
Hopes that I know are vain
And knowledge robs life of pleasure—
And death of its only pain