This love for you—my mortal life I pledge

Each day’s endeavor labored for your cause,

A bond upheld and owed until my death,

No passing hour shall ever give it pause.

What is true love if not a fealty grand,

An honored vow to best all worldly bonds,

A promise, true and proud, to ever stand

Until both hearts together pass beyond.

No clearer truth for which the soul would die,

No nobler aim to which the heart ascends;

No prouder purpose man may yet descry,

No firmer trust on which all faith depends.

Without this blessing, life is but a span—

My greatest accolade: you held my hand.