Beauty and the Beast
Strange sounds pervaded the garden once
And the Beast walked every evening,
One paw before his eyes to brush aside
Green willow bough and mist,
Calling on a distant Beauty
Who should end the spell,
Or falling on his face
To sob and snort with grief
That she would not answer,
Though all the garden sang with her presence.
Sweet Lady of Death,
His lost Beauty,
Came at last with kisses
And the long sick Beast died,
Gasping beside his own enchanted pool.
And a new prince sprang to life,
Shuddering to feel the gawkish fang
So soon protruding from his lips
Then fell to wandering the garden once again,
And puzzled, beast-like, that his ancient curse
Once sweetly lifted by her first embrace,
Must be restored at the second.
But the story is over at last.
The ruined garden is only half remembered
And the shades of enchantment failing,
Returned only at moments
By a chance turn of the head—
The eyes catching faint movements from behind.
The steps are cleared of creepers,
Leading down to the lawn
Where moss has left the single statue for ever.
Slow fish swim unbewitched about a pool
That even the old have forgotten.
And only children,
Stopped short at times
By a faint sadness in the breeze,
Look about them and are suddenly amazed
By an absence of unkempt willows and tall grass.
Page(s) 1 (given as p.9)
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