A Lady and Her Knight

‘My lady!’ cried the knight, going down upon a knee,
‘If I might but hear your voice, before I’m off to sea.
There is nothing more in all this world that I desire
Then to woo you and to serve you, come tempest or hellfire.’

‘Good sir knight please stand before me,’ the lady did request,
‘And bear with thee this favor of mine, worn upon thy breast.’
Then she pulled from out her sleeve a handkerchief most fair
And bequeathed it to the knight, who accepted it with care.

‘I will come back to you my lady, once the fight is won
I will come back for you, whose face radiates like the sun
Whose exceeding grace and beauty defies all of nature’s laws
Whose complexion is so wondrous it giveth angels pause’

Looking at this young knight, his pure soul laid bare
The fair lady pledged when he returned, she’d be waiting there
So the knight departed, his heart filled with love and joy
But asea they fought a mighty storm, his ship it was destroyed

His lady waited months, then years, praying he’d return
When all others had lost hope, still her heart, it yearned
She could not find another to fill the giant hole
That the brave and gentle knight had left within her soul

Then one day as she was praying, seeking answers from above
She heard a quiet whisper, ‘I’ve returned to you my love.’
She spun about and there he stood, dirty, worn, and tired.
‘Oh, to see your face,’ he said, ‘it’s all I have desired.’

‘Days I floated out at sea, tossed with wreckage upon the waves
All the others didn’t make it, they sank to their watery graves.
But I could not give up hope, not while you were here.
I promised you that I’d return, and so I have, my dear.’

‘Your favor lent me courage, heart within my darkest hours,
Knowing that you cared for me, you, the fairest of all flowers.
So, my lady, would you have me, after all these years?
I still wish your heart to woo, to banish all your fears.’

Swiftly she embraced him, holding him with all her strength
Then releasing him from her embrace, she held him at arm’s length
‘Good sir night, you must promise you’ll never leave me again’
‘I promise you I’ll remain,’ he said, ‘with you, until the very end.’