Alas, my love, if I could you live And from the page forth and sit beside me Or better still, bestride the I gave you Wrapped close within the cloak I to hide thee I'd venture forth to ask thy name Since while liest underneath my pen honour given which the poorest claim Unjustly was withheld. But if I held captive as I did ere now Stalling to pass my fingers through the Of tendrils, or peruse thy brow In fear of sending off what heaven Too early for my mind To grasp the detail and retain The presence that your left behind That thou in all thy glory remain I fear my I would not mend For now upon reflection I secretly I never did intend With title long or surname to bless But let in my imagination Run the thoughts of who perhaps you were Before your soul demanded your And deigned my and willing heart to stir For such a noble and impassioned Could be but newborn unto this sphere But sure among a distant race Thou hast known than all who dwelleth here And could tell much of thou hast seen And battles fought for won and lost And how each done a faerie Queen Becomes a brighter than it cost The of your world, you may impart Desire to be neither Nor in the art Of living, where lips were meant to taste A sort of feline stealth they about them And while a flame of innocence they In forests dark you fear to be them For knights of maler kinds are ne'er so Yes, in thy orb a may be a knight (Thou knew'st a friend make upon this news) Without a whisper or censure slight For are not afeared their stock to lose Where no stock may be taken or be No be granted, nor no bride No may be stolen while she slept Nor of her freedom to decide What suits her best. No law is needed To cut the weed of violence the stem No danger for the law to go For acts as these do not to them The you raise are rarer still For in their eyes, as in the of thine Such and thrilling mysteries fulfill The darkest corners of their heart's Their arrows, much like those I to thee Could not but graze the of yonder cow Without him laugh. 'Tis much to see Them tickling prey. I know not how They do encapture what they eat Save that perhaps bright unfettered brains learned that what grows underneath their feet And in the trees better sustains A life intent on living well But how, I ask thee, most endearing Do lords and ladies love is no sorrow No to overcome, no soul uncleaned Of ardor long worn out its stay, Betrothal to a mortal divine Than who stole thy blushing breath away No hot forbidden kisses for to No heart affixed to age where heart is No ill intentioned suitors to "Still madam! Would'st kindly hold thy tongue!" Thou sayest. "Your mistake has rash been In long in combat with your kind Thou see'st no other obstacle but Thy hands are careworn have yet to find The hands first should hold them. Yet to please The hierarchy which you unwitting Thou dost believe that in fighting grows That happiness in is not befitting But in thy sadness thou light of woes For even were ne'er a cloudy day No tempest to divide what love had The galley the moon holds in her sway not but stir the peace it finally found The is deeper than the sea about thee The stars my doublet you have drawn May my homeward path, but how, without me Wilt thou escape the fate thou on?" And in way and more my paper spoke O, fierce, savage, gentle bright Thou who I've given breath my soul has You had authority but not the Could I but see the lips that dare not They are so beautiful and sweet I but touch the wings that underneath Are made so thy heart forgets to beat Perhaps I should have more for to strive You came to my domain and despair For I be the chastest heart alive The realm you speak of not take me there Have you no pity? Can'st not perceive That I, a beast, had but the eyes To see where I love? Dost thou believe ere you came I was but vain disguise? I know the murmur of music The things no heart could comprehend I render'st thou for all torment feels And longed to be thy lordship's faithful Yea, quiet as a mushroom did I I willed to my form to overtake I shivered at each passing gait And so I slept to awake Alas, my love, thou kiss me goodbye? The night will aid thee on thy travels I'll craft but one more, a crow to fly Before to tell me how thy unravels I say, thou art complete and to go What holds here save one who lives no longer? For I have given thee the life you The weaker I become, art the stronger And in your antique words your intent Was that once art gone I should dismay Quothe thee, "Your thought me, for I meant To leave thee not but to stay. For true, I never did in my own Partake of that pure love of which I thee But be my and with me at the helm And I shall, in the cloak you wrought, thee And journey to the ends of all the For thou hast proved more and wise Than all we faeries, moons and stars are For we not but living in your eyes." Dear nameless knight, if thou would'st be own And thy dragons for a while thou may'st Find in arms within which thou hast grown A better reason than the which thou But with your you pointeth; swear I so And not plain to me, though I did draw it Which way thou dost for us to go in the mind it is of she who saw it Yet still I made thee to discover What one would do if one were asked to 'Tween back and forwards. Be friend or lover Perhaps you were to be my favorite Thou feel'st thy fight but when you must Thou the blade of truth below thy knee Use arrows against all you mistrust But when ride'st my way, aim one at me Your is yours as ere it was before Your time beneath my hand well spent made a thing I love; I ask no more And never redeem the heart I lent Me in my world and thyself in Two petals on the same and silent And evermore I'll welcome in mine Your dear was my finest hour