Despondency

I sadly watch the hours go by, The hours, the days, the months, the years, And what's called life shall soon go by, And helpless and with fruitless rage I watch the hours of life go by.

And I must curse when I would bless, And I who am all love, must hate, And I who have been born to sing Must spend myself in moans and tears.

And must I perish on this rock A cruel God has bound me to? Will not some Hercules ere come And make me free?