The speaker in Joseph Seamon Cotter Jr.’s “Supplication” sounds deeply exhausted, not just physically but in spirit. Life has become an “endless fight,” and every hoped-for dawn turns out to be more darkness. He is not asking for good fortune or even for happiness—only for rest from the past and quiet for the short stretch of life he still has to travel. The title tells you this is a kind of prayer, and the tone is quiet and resigned rather than angry. The repeated “so tired” and “so weary” make the exhaustion feel immediate and bone-deep. You feel the weight of someone who has struggled too long and now wants only to stop straining. The mood is somber and still, like a person finally lowering their guard and asking for the smallest mercy: a little peace before the journey ends.
Supplication — Summary
I am so tired and weary, So tired of the endless fight,
So weary of waiting the dawn And finding endless night.
That I ask but rest and quiet - Rest for days that are gone,
And quiet for the little space That I must journey on.