The Poetry Corner

Break O Day

By Henry Lawson

You love me, you say, and I think you do, But I know so many who dont, And how can I say Ill be true to you When I know very well that I wont? I have journeyed long and my goal is far, I love, but I cannot bide, For as sure as rises the morning star, With the break of day Ill ride. I was doomed to ruin or doomed to mar The home wherever I stay, But Ill think of you as the morning star And they call me Break o Day. They well might have named me the Fall o Night, For drear is the track I mark, But I love fair girls and I love the light, For I and my tribe were dark. You may love me dear, for a day and night, You may cast your life aside; But as sure as the morning star shines bright With the break of day Ill ride. There was never a lover so proud and kind, There was never a friend so true; But the song of my life I have left behind In the heart of a girl like you. There was never so deep or cruel a wrong In the land that is far away, There was never so bitter a broken heart That rode at the break of day. God bless you, dear, with your red-gold hair And your pitying eyes of grey, Oh! my heart forbids that a star so fair Should be marred by the Break o Day. Live on, my girl, as the girl you are, Be a good and a true mans bride, For as sure as beckons the evening star With the fall o night Ill ride. I was born to ruin or born to mar The home wherever I light. Oh! I wish that you were the Evening Star And that I were the Fall o Night.