The Rose with Throns

She was a rose, so fair to see,

With petals soft and dewy,

And I was but a lowly bee

That came to drink her honey.

I drank and drank, till all my heart

Was filled with ecstasy,

And then she turned and stung me smart,

And bade me fly and flee.

I flew, but oh, the pain I felt

Was more than I could bear,

And for six months I wept and knelt

Beneath her window there.

But now I'm learning to forget,

And though my heart is sore,

I know that roses have their thorns,

And so I'll love no more.

I'll build a wall around my heart,

And keep it safe and sound,

And never let a rose depart

To break it with her wound.

I'll find a love more true and fair,

A love that will not sting,

And then I'll know what true love is,

And all my sorrows sing.