"All roads led into the mire in my time." 



          Truly, I live in dark times!
          The guileless word is folly. A smooth forehead
          Suggests insensitivity. The man who laughs
          Has simply not yet had
          The terrible news.


the opening lines of Brecht's "To Those Born Later" (1939)


Does the poem get any more cheerful?  


Until the last couple stanzas -- no.