© Steve King
All rights reserved
Alas, Love, Alas—
I must be a fortress now.
I am sworn to another
and must duty hold,
though I revel in your warmth,
recalling her so cold.
Alas, my Soul, Alas—
I cannot resist the call
of your whispers in the night,
even in my dreams.
Every vow imprisons me,
while every instinct screams.
Alas, Heart, Alas—
She is ever distant now.
Must I wait on bitter fruit
with your sweetness here?
Cover me with cloak and kiss;
before she reappears.
Alas, Life, Alas—
I can never bear this price.
Without Love my Soul is lost,
my Heart a wretched waste.
I have never held the means
to savor Love in haste,
so let us linger while we may,
and all temptations taste!
An exercise very much in an old style for
Oh yes, taste the temptations! Slowly!
ReplyDeleteall the lingering and tasting of temptations sounds like fun to me....smiles. I wonder at the purpose of the captial letters?
ReplyDeleteSo be it! the exhilaration of a new love can never be compared to life's goodness. Savor it to the fullest. Great write Steve!
ReplyDeleteHank
loved the old English feel to this
ReplyDeleteI like this very much! You have really aced the form, and I can tell you put a lot of work into this poem. And, yes, sometimes it is hard to resist temptation.....! Temptations seem to be part of life..
ReplyDeleteHa! Love conquers all--especially hesitation in times of passion! (I hope they were prepared, as it were!) This is very charming--in part because it almost feels like his persuasion of the lover as much as of himself. I love the capitalized beings--as if Love and Soul were things one could name and call out too--very clever. Thanks, Steve. K.
ReplyDeleteThanks, ma'am!
DeleteThis really does have a troubadourish feel to it, Steve--courtly love, but there is something post-modern in the conflict, too. Not to mention all the bitter and bittersweet truth you tell. Life seems determined to chisel out the highest prices she can, and often with the same result as the usual con-man's successes.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good observation here, Joy. I hadn't seen a double sense of the conflict as I was writing. No doubt the first silver-tongues were con men, not poets.
DeleteI love the classical verses & style ~ I specially like this part:
ReplyDeleteI cannot resist the call
of your whispers in the night,
even in my dreams.
Every vow imprisons me,
while every instinct screams.
Happy Sunday Steve ~
Always take it slow enjoy the moment, Enjoyed this..
ReplyDeletei like how you've personified heart, life, love and soul....glad that temptations didn't get a capital letter.... :)
ReplyDeleteIt should have!
Deletewonderful! You should exercise often :-)
ReplyDeleteZQ
This old style suits you-really a wonderful write!
ReplyDeleteYou have written this so well - the Choice we face in life - duty or following the heart, so well described in "Must I wait on bitter fruit with your sweetness here?"
ReplyDeleteOh I love the way you wrote that an echo of the heart (and more)
ReplyDeletegreat contrasts in this verse.
I imagine a Shakespeare like character reciting or proclaiming this on stage.
ReplyDeleteLove the old style...and recognition of power of love....that last stanza, tho much for delicate, does remind me of Oscar Wilde...giving in to temptation...and surely we must when it comes to love...a beautiful work, Steve! Love it! ~jackie~
ReplyDeletecorrection: should be much "more" delicate...not "for"
DeleteTemptations abound…to be true, or to live in the moment...that is the question! I really enjoyed the feel of this. I can imagine it being sung by a tavern bard in medieval England. Well played, my friend, well done!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the olde world feel..without Love my soul is lost..deep sadness resides in a lost soul..
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for your kind comments. They mean a great deal as you have such a wonderful and nuanced voice expressed in your own work. I'm sorry not to have gotten back to the other parts of your long poem, though I can even now, in the rush of blog life, remember lines and moments--meaning it must be very striking as my memory is pretty bad--this has been a difficult month workwise--aside from the poems (which have been a relief mainly.) Thanks again for your kindness and the inspiration of your own work. k.
ReplyDelete