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I, too, have sinned, have wronged my fellow-men,
Have raged against my kindred and myself.
But though All-gracious Heaven may deem my throes
And gloomy bondage full atonement's price
For what my waywardness has brought about,
I must do more; my honor and my fame
I must restore before my countrymen.
And in sublimity of earthly record
Become a fit companion to the souls
Of my beloved ones 'mid celestial spheres.
This done I fain will yield my parting breath,
And find my brightest triumph in my death,
While, tyrant, thou shalt live to contemplate
Thy shattered power and to bewail thy fate.
Yes, I must die, will die, though God forbid,
That I enlist my hand to end my life;
For so much I have learned in that poor school
Which I must call my sorrowful career.
That one offence 'gainst Nature's ordinance
Cannot be remedied by still another.
As at the evening of some dismal day,
The radiant sun from the horizon's brink
Once more will clothe the somber firmament
With purplish-golden hues, before he sets—
I, too, will crown my ill-spent, wayward life
By one bright deed, one bliss-conferring act
The proverb's truth: All's well that endeth well.
Be demonstrated in my funeral knell.