The Heartless Beauty

I.

Oh, why are you so deadly pale,
Young warrior as cold as snow?
You loiter here alone and curs'd...
What ailed you so?

 

II.

I met a lady in the woods –
The fairest one – and then she smiled;
Her robes were bright, her limbs were slim,
And her eyes were wild.

 

III.

She surely was an evil thing;
No mercy moistened her dry soul,
And those whom she had ever killed,
They curs'd their dole.

 

IV.

And in that bless'd though wicked time
Our meetings were the sweetest fall
For she was a servant of my foe:
She was in thrall.

 

V.

She longed for freedom all along
Like howling wind, and the wind she was.
I saw her yearning in her eyes
And her clenched jaws.

 

VI.

Deep down inside I worshiped her –
This cruel mistress of my dreams...
Alas, for those of our kind
Hope rarely gleams.

 

VII.

Her master found himself betrayed,
And death was all that she deserved;
He killed her, and the soil absorbed
His vicious mirth.

 

VIII.

I found her kneeling on the mead;
Herbs drank her blood like honied dew.
Her eyes were gentle as they said:
"I love thee true."

 

IX.

She died, and I was struck with grief;
I was so sick and greatly drear...
But, oh! – my pride allowed me shed
No single tear.

 

X.

I heard these words adressed to me:
"Thy heartless beauty died in vain!"
And nothing else in my long life
Caused so much pain.

 

XI.

I swore revenge for her bad luck,
And though it could not bring her back
The point of my existence was
But in this wrack.

 

XII.

And this is why I loiter here
Alone and curs'd and full of rage;
Her slayer'll die, and horrid death
Will be his wage.

(03.07.2017 - 24.07.2017)