I know I should have listened well

To the earnest bidding of friends—

When in love, you, by chance, fall

Never ever give your all

Keep something to yourself

To cushion you should you ever slip.

Yet, I thought this was a friendly jest

Simply spoken in playful mirth—

For I was taught not so long ago

When in love, let your heart go

Don’t hold back, just give your all

If need be, to bare your soul.

So when I gazed at her, a beauty divine

Stood still the hands of time—

She wove a magic I could not quell

Enchanted, I was under her spell

I knew it right then and there

Anything I’d do if only to have her.

I did what I could to worship her

Even my life, keen I was to offer—

Alas! Things were not what I hoped to be

She had her eyes fixed not on me

To someone else her heart was meant

Such misfortune I was unkindly dealt.

Now, I weep in a mire of grief

My spirit is broken, fraught with distress

Truly, I should have kept my friends’ counsel—

When in love, step back a little

Learn to keep something to yourself

To help you up should you ever slip.