For I have loved—yes loved!—oh, loved in vain;
Few men can quench the thirst of heart’s desire;
And love once lost does memory ever stain,
To sear the soul much like a funeral pyre.
Lived I a king in love’s sublimity;
One summer short was my god-granted sway,
Yes you—my queen—sworn ever there to be
In sovereign love, forever and a day.
Then came my foe, black Fate—foul scourge of kings,
That dreaded doomster of the hopes of men,
Great spoiler to the reach of mortal dreams
To humble quite the pith of favored plans.
One day a king, the next a pauper bare…
What majesty to have you once so near.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.