The Swan and the Raven

Said the swan to the raven,
"Come dance with me child
I'll show you a new world
Gentle and mild
Come down from your branch friend
An honour it be
To join in sweet music with one such as me."

'Ha!' croaked the raven, and cackled with glee,
''Why would I deign to mingle with thee?
I have better to do
Foolish lake child
Than waste my time talking with you!"

Ha-haa! Raven, up in your tree,
The dance of the swan could set your black heart free,
A-haa! Raven, foolish you be
The white prince of the lake could have danced with thee!

The nightingale listened
He knew every word,
A moderate, gentle, wisdom filled bird
He flew to his friend
The swift little wren
And told the child what he had heard.

Said the wren to woodpecker,
'Here's what was told...'
And recounted the tale of the raven so cold,
The woodpecker listened
With eyes made of gold
To how the swan had been so bold.

Ha-haa! Raven, a little bird said
You could have escaped, but you scorned him instead,
A-haa! Raven, what went through your head
When you made the lake child feel no better than dead?

The swan, bitter, swimming alone,
With only a title, not even a throne,
Thought, quiet, brooding and still
Of why his fair raven rejected his skill.

The raven perched silent,
Motionless 'till
The woodpecker knocked on the tree with his bill,
"Hark, raven, I come bearing news
Your harsh mental blows left the swan with a bruise."
Unmoved, the raven just cackled and spoke,
"That idiot's ego is not mine to stroke!"
The messenger cried "His heart you have broke!"
"I do not care, woodpecker, let the fool choke."

Ha-haa! Raven, empty and bound
A wonderful paradise you could have found,
A-haa! Raven, you'll never be sound,
The bondage of sorrow is too tightly wound.

Said the swan to the raven,
"Come dance with me"
Sliced down the reply before it was let free,
"You have no choice, an order it be
Come dance with me, raven
With feathers of coal,
Dance or I seperate body and soul."

Ha-haa! Lake child, with words like a blade,
Look at the wound in your love you have made,
A-haa! Lake child, watch your heart fade
You destroyed your soul with the death you just bade.

So the nightingale a melody sung
And danced the birds as through the forest it rung,
The swords and the daggers caught in the wind,
Darting and dipping, diving and ripping
The little bird twittered although his heart stung.

Ha-haa! Loveless, come meet your end
The raven and swan bird who could never bend,
A-haa! Loveless, watch your hearts rend,
Caught on the thorns of a rose you can't tend.

The nightingale silenced,
The woodpecker still,
The wren, she stared on as her eyes had their fill
Of a snowy pure body
Of drowned misery,
And a motionless shadow, caught in its tree.