She Has Wed The Lion

She has wed the lion of her dreams,
And my dreams under feet and paws
Have been smashed like the sunbeams
When they go through prism's claws.
But oh, my love! Oh, there was no reason
I could not have told you of my love in season!

Shining hair and summer lightning mind,
Glancing touch in argument, passing hand,
An honesty that Diogenes could never find
Because he would never have looked beyond a man-
But oh, my love! That you have gone and wed,
And never turned to one who loved you instead!

I saw her coming down the steps today,
Head high, eyes shimmering, a veil in her hair,
Rainbows and birds scattered along the way,
More strikingly, as all brides are, fair-
And oh, my love! That I could not tell you,
That your father had to go and sell you!

She saw me, and came to a skipping halt,
And came to clasp hands and my cheek kiss.
I thought the rest of the world at greatest fault
Not to see that that was the name of bliss-
And oh, my love! For a moment in your gaze,
I saw how it could have been, all the ways.

She stepped back, and squeezed my hand,
For a moment a spark arcing in her fingers.
"Please come to visit, as soon as you can,
O Laurel." And the moment in my mind lingers-
And oh, my love! Can I be tricked by memory,
That for a moment I saw there a chance of eternity?

Can I have seen there a stamped-out spark
Of glinting love, and lust, and lover's passion?
I will not think of her and her lion in the dark,
But let things fall out in their destined fashion-
And oh, my love! With what great hope and pain
Will I wait for the moment till I see you again!


She has wed the lion of her father's dreams,
And confessed her love to me, a woman.
Never is destiny all that it at first seems,
And never will they look for love here to land-
And oh, my love! The birds are singing in the trees;
The world is full of sunlight, and love, and ease.