A Tragic Promise

Please swear to me that you will love no other.

Do not forget I also have a mother.

Then promise me no female else can come
To take your heart. We want it all, not some.

He swore that if another female should
Bring love into his heart that God, He could
Then strike him down so he’d no longer live.

She smiled, was happy that her love would give
His life if his heart should divide into
A space enough to love more than the two
Dear woman in his life when he then spoke.

And so they married, white on both their arms,
The happiness of each one surely warms
The wedding-goers as they look upon
The two united, promised ‘til the dawn.

And two years passed, and then they had a child –
When she was born she totally beguiled
The man who did not think it possible
To love someone so thoroughly. So, full
Of love of his new daughter, with his heart
Now split, he died, as he swore he’d depart.
He died beside his female loves, heart broke.