The Antipathy Of Bramshurst Court Poem by Drew Johnson

Darkness enveloped the too young
Lovers,
And the girl breathed to whom she was
Bound, 'are we safe? '
To hear his reply, 'only but from one
another.'

Nature's Sound and Fury continued to
Rage,
While the two, like Adam and Eve,
Remained in their ignorant daze;
Or, perhaps, a malaise?

They had no fire, not even a
Spark.
Cold delivered her icy blows,
Like an angered God,
And expelled the Lovers to the land of Nod;
O lost- among the moody winds of March!

So does time ruthlessly destroy his own
Romances;
And so does physical necessity destroy
The morals of all men
That depravity often leads to suspicious
Glances, and burns the way for
Insanity to begin!

Communication breaks like levees
In a storm;
The two Lovers, caught amidst the
Flood- if they ever get out- will
Cry, 'why us? Nevermore,
Nevermore!

Where was their Angel? Where was their lark
To sing of their contested
And impetuous marriage?
O lost- among the moody winds of March!

The two lovers, once as impassioned
As Paolo and Francesca, huddle
In opposite corners, like two starving
Dogs,
And each voice asks: 'how many days?
Three, four, a week, or more? '

'What has become of us? ' The girl
Finally cried, with a face like Massacio's
Eve. 'Will we die so lost from what we once were?
For a death like this,
There is no hope to be
Freed! '

The boy looked on her with scorn:
'Do not trust to hope; hope only provides
A host for destitution,
And much of our illusion has been
Lifted to attenuate our
Unborn! '

She returned with Fury unseen
By hell (but less pitiable, as she
Was equal in their presumptuous
Union) her lust was disguised
As trust, and lo- was it the Snake
The one to
Fool them?

Nevertheless, the Words wer spun,
And the Act was done; and not long after,
Did she hear her own name called
By the Serpent,
And both He and She will nevermore
Be free; they will abide in the
Second circle.

They had no fire, not even a
Spark.
Cold delivered her icy blows,
Like an angered God,
And expelled the Lovers to the land of Nod;
O lost- among the moody winds of March!