One night, a very bleak light
Flickering, flickering causing worry
Screaming mother then cries, what a fright
A baby was born, a token of the dreary life to come.

Absent father, dying mother who puts up a fight
Two was the age, abandoned and helpless
Brought in by John and Frances, a new identity
Pain, death, all a token of the dreary life to come.

Grown to love, love with passion
Gone to study, left all he knew
But the past caught up, causing pain like no other
His new mother gone, another token of the dreary life to come.

A proposal was made, offered to a dear love
But was torn, torn away by another
He was betrayed and left to wallow alone
Denied, again a token of the dreary life to come.

The past was written in a way to cease pain
Named the creator of modern mystery
Married to a distant cousin, a relationship unvain
But as always, both a token of the dreary life to come.

A love cut short, shorter than thought
Again, left alone, alone like in the past
His last love is gone, most likely his heart caught
He wallowed in grief of his wife, a token of the dreary life to come.

Depressed as can be, lonesome feels right
The pain from his past is the muse of his work
Drinking, drinking, hiding his pain
Just days after his birthday, a token of the dreary life to come.

Collapsing from stress, stress unceasing
He could feel his descent into madness, he had to leave
He already knew the madness was just waiting to implode
Tick tock, like a clock, a token of the dreary life to pass.

Insanity setting in, far away from home
He has to make do with the Swan Tavern Hotel
They say he has a problem, so he joins a team
Alas, he found hope, a token of the dreary life to pass.

A childhood love so plainly sent to cease his pain
Not a Lenore, nor an Annabel Lee, but a she
A widow, such a coincidence, and to be married to he
Oh, how such irony is a token of the dreary life to pass.

Missing, missing off the face of the world
Until he was found almost dead
Rushed to the place with the people in white
He could feel the reaper now, a token of the dreary life to pass.

Life was draining, passing before his eyes
The pain was unbearable, he was in and out of sleep
Finally he saw the reaper reach down to him
'Lord, help my poor soul!', a token of the dreary life that has passed