Wyatt's use of the word travail captures a sense of effort that leads to nothing; the tired speaker admits to his exhaustion and suggests he’s a person who’s done a lot for not much gain. The theme of a repetitive cycle continues despite one’s effort; due to time and circumstances, they’re still brought back to where they started. The line can be further interpreted as a reflection of the cycle of human pursuits. No matter how hard one works, they’ll still have moments of feeling behind and frustrated. This frustration is amplified by the sense that effort alone doesn’t guarantee progress, mirroring the disillusionment many feel when their ambitions don’t yield the expected rewards. It speaks to the vulnerability inherent in human striving, where the outcome often remains uncertain despite one's best efforts.
This line conveys a sense of passion that drives people to unfruitful pursuits. Love is a common tool for this expression, used as a long commitment that leaves the pursuer feeling less than. This example portrays a cycle of pursuit and desire, which speaks to a larger theme of repetitive ups and downs or the cycle of life. The overarching take from this can be that human life is a succession of pursuits and expectations that lead to exhaustion and disappointment. I like to think there are more ways to apply quotes than just the initial assumption, for example, this quote being in the cycle of life makes sense but it wasn't the first thing I would assume to place it in, for instance, his "defeated" tone within the quote implies this quote would fall better within a humiliated category. Due to The cycle of life encompassing the ideas of humility as well as the "Farthest cometh behind" renders more value to the "cycle of life" theme as to illicit a circular relationship between his failures and humility as a part of the cycle of life or at least mirroring it.