What was the mood of James Stephens in poem Check?

In the poem "The Check" by James Stephens, the speaker's mood is pessimistic and fatalistic. The poem addresses the speaker's sense of life as a game, where humans try to avoid death but never succeed. The speaker is aware of mortality, and the title itself represents Death as the end. The poem's tone is dark, melancholy, and filled with despair. It conveys the idea that death is inevitable and unavoidable.