Upon Reading a Book

O' madam, betwixt the pages

A story professed to love

A wonder of descriptive prose

Delights read enraptured

“My favorite book”, so you said

O' madam, your heroine is flawed

Wounding herself beyond measure

And those she swears she loves

Loving only what she strives to have

Consumed by what she holds

O' madam, such a story this is!

As to make one shake horribly in shoe

Reading more chills the very sinews

Yet fosters a wild, crestfallen hope

That she will learn from her mistakes

O' madam, it is you I read of here

Your face reflects in its winding lines

Your voice echoes in the dialog

Your discontent rends the pages

I wept for your unhappiness

O' madam, I heed the warning subtle

To avoid such actions as yours

To live as if there is nothing in Gain

To flee Ambition's slavish clutch

And to cherish my Loves as they are