My heart alone knows what I’ve done:
The prizes claimed, the battles won,
The thoughts I’ve had when I’m afraid,
The secret burdens undisplayed
And hidden deep from everyone.
But as the flower seeks the sun
And shackled convicts long to run,
I curse the sins whose weight has made
My heart alone.
Yet in the gallery is one
Whose grace has made my locks undone
And for whose sake I’ve nightly prayed
To be destroyed and then remade
An honest man who need not shun
My heart, alone.
Written in response to the question “How does a lady inspire Chivalry?”