Billet-doux (written on the occasion of Valentine’s day)

(c) Edward John Poynter

I wrote for you all night long

An amorous billet-doux

Unveiling my maiden heart

To protest my love for you.

Mon amour, muse, god too

Yes you, who I worship like a mad priest…

Roses have lost their colour

Larks, their voice incarnate a beast

Days no longer are cheerful

My world, sans you, is deceased.

Oh love, azure eyed love, alack

Your blue is icy and frozen

Voice, a blazing trail of lust

Turning hearts to ashes and dust.

Adieu, adieu, I fear, so adieu…

To survive your frost and your flame

I wrote for you a billet-doux last night

And tore to bits upon the dawn of light.