Why should I grieve for you? Voice unavailing,
Waking the past with its pitiful wailing;
Why should I grieve for you? Weakest of all,
You, who have fallen as such only fall.
Life gave to you strength, to be wasted and played with;
Life gave you a Fate that you were not dismayed with;
Life treasured a woman's heart, warm for your sake;
And now it is broken-as such only break.
You rise from the past, insistent, compelling;
Ah! for the tale that brings tears in the telling.
Do I care? Do I look for your home-coming yet?
You who have forgotten, as such men forget?
First published in The Australian Town and Country Journal, 8 February 1905
