“The die is cast,” Caesar remarked aloud
Before his legion crossed the Rubicon.
The Roman soldiers could be all but proud
As amply they were made to carry on.
This is the world that conquerors did forge
Which bears its gilded visage at my... – by Benjamin Brantley | 6 Views added 1 month ago
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A few gentle knights tarried in the court
Who’d pledged to crusade at the king’s command.
When from afar came the darkened report
That one was vying for his daughter’s hand.
Such love had they for the young damsel’s name
That they each laid... – by Benjamin Brantley | 215 Views added 1 month ago
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Shouldest a knight adventure on a quest
For love and immortality alike,
To find within the heart of a princess,
The rare hidden treasures of her psyche?
Shouldest he pledge his love by bearing arms;
Laying down his life in the very course,
... – by Benjamin Brantley | 7 Views added 2 months ago
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In my romantic dream she comes to me.
The herald of our long-awaited bliss,
A nightingale, sings sweetly from a tree.
Under the stars and moon-glow we both kiss.
As holy angels from above watch o’er
The hedge of night does make way for the... – by Benjamin Brantley | 7 Views added 2 months ago
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Methinks mine heart could melt for the coy maid,
Who remains hidden away from mine eyes.
For once she was a heart-thief in the glade,
A nymph who enthralled men without disguise.
Her dulcet song was heaven to mine ears.
The crown upon her... – by Benjamin Brantley | 11 Views added 3 months ago
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I want her kiss to be my cherry wine
My laughter to be garlands for her head
I wish that she would be my Valentine
Wherefore as in betrothal we would wed
I want to be her consummate lover
With passion’s spark upon a bed of coal
Through... – by Benjamin Brantley | 4 Views added 3 months ago
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I’d hanged my heart upon the bow of fate
In hope that on some future day, we’d meet.
Within a time when wisdom bade me wait
Thine unknown kiss was still cherished as sweet.
Thy love yet unknown...thy tender embrace
Was secretly my innermost... – by Benjamin Brantley | 123 Views added 3 months ago
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We seem as poets, always to know love
By blessed intuition, so to speak
Of dulcet beauties and heaven above
And wherefore in whose arms we will be weak
We seem as saints in practice, near to truth
Enlightened by the One who gives us life
... – by Benjamin Brantley | 12 Views added 4 months ago
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I hath traveled the world in search of love
Yet hath I not found such an one as thee
For whom the sunshine lights heaven above
And whose lips doth drip as sweetest honey
Shall I recall the day that we first met?
Thou wert all radiant and full... – by Benjamin Brantley | 11 Views added 6 months ago
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O’ love, wherefore art thou? May I find thee?
If I arrive at our sacred garden
Wilt thou be there, awaiting sight of me?
Mine heart is late blooming. I beg thy pardon!
Now I beseech thee, that thou tarry not
Make haste and let us have a warm... – by Benjamin Brantley | 18 Views added 6 months ago
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Milady sits aloft a high tower
Waiting to be wooed by some handsome knight
There are a few men who would not cower
To slay a dragon in an awesome fight
She is hard to possess - and rightly so,
As compared to a lily among thorns!
Her heart... – by Benjamin Brantley | 16 Views added 6 months ago
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Upon the cusp of daybreak I awoke
My heart leaped for my darling damsel fair
A joyous trump which angels did invoke
Rang out the news as by a gentle prayer
My love for her didst also satisfy
To soothe the aching of forlorn romance
And by her... – by Benjamin Brantley | 35 Views added 7 months ago
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My love and I sang madrigals for fun
As we exchanged our hearts, one evening’s tryst.
She masqueraded as a coyish one
And bade me steal no kisses from her lips.
Her hidden beauty kept behind a veil
Didst only serve to stir up passion’s plea
... – by Benjamin Brantley | 218 Views added 7 months ago
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I hadst hope that we two wouldest unite
Wherefore, I sent thee roses in the spring
In summer, I sang songs by firelight
And mused upon our love, whilst still doting.
Within the autumn, signs of ecstasy
Began to yield to wintry hermitage
And... – by Benjamin Brantley | 17 Views added 8 months ago
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To love the lady for whom my heart longs
Is easier to do than to have her.
Love does endure through the rights and the wrongs
And makes brighter the prospect, as it were.
‘Twas easy when juvenile days were here,
When love was so innocently... – by Benjamin Brantley | 14 Views added 9 months ago
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I kissed my sweetheart by the caravan
The camels all did wink their roving eyes
Out on the dunes of the hot desert sands
We both confessed our hopes for Paradise.
Another came presenting spice and dates
And yet another, with gold from the... – by Benjamin Brantley | 12 Views added 10 months ago
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If thou hadst mine heart for thine own keepsake
Thou wouldest pledge thy love only to me.
Methinks ‘twould be the coming of daybreak,
To wake me from my dreamlike fantasy.
If I hadst thine heart for mine own treasure
How wouldst I pledge my... – by Benjamin Brantley | 18 Views added 10 months ago
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O’ shall we pluck the peafowl’s gaudy plumes,
or wear the Eastern country’s rare perfumes?
Shall we go ride the camel caravan,
or boat the river Nile to the Sudan?
Shall we make company with princely sorts,
or dance in palisades of kingdom... – by Benjamin Brantley | 10 Views added 11 months ago
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I carried my bonnie to the churchyard
By my shoulder, she did cleave
And softly sang her song-of-love into my ear
Upon a misty mid-summer’s eve.
The churchbells rang aloud at dusk
Myrtle blossoms fluttered along with the breeze
Unto yon... – by Benjamin Brantley | 24 Views added 11 months ago
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Let love not pass away as a flower
which yields perfume, yet wilts with aging grace
Fond memories should sweeten the hour
of one’s passing, and hold a sacred place
In the hearts of all who are left behind
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” they... – by Benjamin Brantley | 15 Views added 11 months ago
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Now there is no nobler cause to be had
than that betwixt a lady and her knight.
At daybreak he emerges iron-clad,
And rides to fend for honor in-the-fight.
She leaves a kiss upon his lips for joy.
The threat of death does not bewilder him,
... – by Benjamin Brantley | 33 Views added 12 months ago
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Into my dream thou camest one late night,
Wherein thou didst possess my heart with bliss.
Discovering compassion in my plight,
Thou didst leave me awakened with a kiss!
Thy lips are still apprized in memory,
As enshrined in my diary of hope.
... – by Benjamin Brantley | 9 Views added 1 year ago
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I heard a sacred song from on the stage,
With ears touched by the majestic Divine.
What melody was scribed to my heart’s page?
What blessedness did make my soul to pine?
Her precious name is Jacqueline Marie,
Whose light did brighten even... – by Benjamin Brantley | 9 Views added 1 year ago
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Come dine with me fair daughter of the Nile,
And I will shew thee love thou hast not known.
Let us beckon companions for awhile,
And have our fill of pleasure at the throne.
Lie thou upon my breast my royal maid,
So shall I call the armor... – by Benjamin Brantley | 11 Views added 1 year ago
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I dreamt I kissed thee on thy rosy cheek,
In bygone days, some yesteryear ago.
Thou didst incline, yet as thou didst not speak,
Thine absence made mine heart grow fonder so.
Now in another’s arms thou hast true love
whilst I am left wayfaring... – by Benjamin Brantley | 175 Views added 1 year ago
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Here come the young virgins swathed in white,
Basking in the glow of serene summerlight.
Daughters of music, radiant and fair,
With laurels & dewdrops in their hairs.
Here they come, sandaled and dancing,
Fragrant, on fleek, and entrancing.
... – by Benjamin Brantley | 26 Views added 1 year ago
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Butterflies and fairies to keep you safe from harm
A bracelet 'round your ankle for a lucky lover's charm
Starlight showers, moonlit flowers, goldfish in a pond
A warm and cuddly teddy bear who'll never leave your arms
A breeze of kisses, soft... – by Benjamin Brantley | 12 Views added 1 year ago
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Come lark, out of the night sky!
Tell me of the moon & stars as though I'd never seen them.
The tallest peak, the deepest sea: and all the land between them.
Tell me a tale of far off worlds, O' how I long to dream them.
Will men and gods... – by Benjamin Brantley | 15 Views added 1 year ago
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I searched for love behind a rock, but did not find it there
I searched high in the clouds from which I only found despair
I searched beneath the potted plants placed plainly on the porch
and on the hills and in the stream, I wandered back and... – by Benjamin Brantley | 35 Views added 1 year ago
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On a castle court in the motherland
Dwelt a fair princess dressed in soft raiment.
She was brave-at-heart, noble, and street-wise
Of our sovereign Lord, highly deputized.
Men came from afar just to catch a glimpse
Of her beauty,...they braved... – by Benjamin Brantley | 33 Views added 1 year ago
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O' how I loved her so, so long ago!
A coy lass I sought to woo with romance
Telling a troubadour's tale in tableau,
Whenever my own heart would gallivant.
Within her arms, I was an honest king
She would lend her bosom to quietness
And I... – by Benjamin Brantley | 12 Views added 1 year ago
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I am so much enamored with my muse,
I have not for to want anything more.
She brings me great inspiration in truth!
With her I feel as though my heart could soar.
At last I know the meaning of true love!
The sentence in her eyes has come to... – by Benjamin Brantley | 102 Views added 1 year ago
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