Shadow and Light

The lady was fair and lived in the light,
Her lover was dark and dwelled in the night.
They knew that their romance was doomed from the start,
Yet they didn’t care, they followed their heart.

A flaxen-haired beauty, noble was she,
a courteous, gentle, proper lady.
She came from a family ancient and proud,
they disliked her love, their protests were loud.

A prince of the darkness, slender and lithe,
he lived off of theft, was skilled with the knife.
Unlawful and wild, used to deceit,
he thrived upon shadows, his home was the street.

Their love seemed eternal, supple and strong,
but they were so contrary, it couldn’t last long.
His craft was a dark one, riddled with strife,
a thief in the night; she feared for his life.

One eve he was caught, and thrown into jail.
His sentence was death, though the lady wailed;
all of her pleas, her cries went for naught,
The evening before, his presence she sought.

He comforted her through the bars of his cell,
and with heavy heart, he bid her farewell.
The guards came for him, they came for her thief,
they ushered her out, her head bowed in grief

The morning arrived, all silent and chill,
she went to the scaffold, her face pale and still.
The noose round his neck, a tear from her eye,
as she silently cursed those who caused him to die.