The newlyweds await,
The time to consecrate,
The vows that contemplate,
The eve that would consummate.
Holy vows, fleshed out together,
Here in linen,
There in heather,
Finally, they join forever.
But the partisan, the contrary—
The essence of it all—
Speaks of this and that,
And then of the final fall.
Of holiness, of ritual,
Citing industry, profit, and gain:
Both now lie still, in silent death,
the child lives on,
– without the pain.