Sonnet 59 'I Loved Her, and O, How I Meant Not To'
I loved her, and O! How I meant not to!
To be my dead wife's husband, and a friend
Respectful of her sister, humble, too,
And now, respect and friendship're at an end.
I thought that I could keep my feelings out
Of any interaction that we had,
I thought that I had bound them, with ropes stout
And just for feeling, now, I feel so bad!
I thought the perfect gentleman could say
'I love you', without burdening my friend
But that was not the way Reality lay,
I tried, desire, to admiration, to bend.
O! You eternal fool, who could not be
Nor silent witness, nor a still, calm sea!
|