19. no sweeter sin
i was once a great beauty,
sparkling like (and as
ever-changing as) the sea
and every man who knew it
desired only me;
yet i was ruined
by the girl with the fairest skin
and the darkest hair, her lips
like the blood-red rose
beneath her window--
oh, how i dared
to make a stand, to demand
her life, her heart in my hands;
it was no sweeter sin,
such betrayal--
and yet, she ruined me still
a beauty so fair;
she who lured me softly
into a snare, like the fox
who whispered to the hare.
