Classic Poem

As Southern birds avoid a Northern snare,
My kin avoid alliances with thine;
And though my love for thee would greatly dare,
I know our clans the marriage would decline.

I would have followed thee, but evil talk
Besmirched our names and sent us far apart;
But why the world its love of slander balk?
'Tis evil fate that has despoiled my heart!

I wept for thee and mourned for three long years,
As mourns the phoenix when her consort's dead;
And then death came and ended grief and tears;
For after thee no other could I wed.

And now you stand before my grave and grieve,
My wraith's permitted for a moment's space,
The confines of the Spirit land to leave
And visit earth to see thee face to face.

And, oh believe, though quick we part once more,
And in the body cannot meet and love,
Our souls are one till life and time are o'er,
And we united in the realms above.