Happily Ever After~

Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part.

Nay, I have done, you get no more of me.

And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart

That thus so cleanly I myself can free.

Shake hands forever, cancel all our vows,

And when we meet at any time again,

Be it not seen in either of our brows.

That we one jot of former love retain.

Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath,

When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,

When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,

And Innocence is closing up his eyes--

Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,

From death to life thou mightst him yet recover.

Everyone pictures the 'picture perfect, fairy tale' romance story. The over-used 'happily ever after' dream is hugely sought after, not only in this day and age, but also in those of the past. Here is where many people find the disappointing difference between fantasy and reality, however. A relationship always flourishes on the foundation of hope- hope that there will be eternal love, eternal happiness, eternal bliss, eternal lust, eternal whatever. The whole concept of 'eternal' is relatively impossible. No one will ever be eternally happy with someone, no one will ever have eternal bliss, no one will be eternally captivated in and in the deepest sense of lustful love with another, it's not achievable. This poem captivates the essence of this. When reality sets in and the eternal fairy-tale turns into an unsolvable relationship based off of unachievable expectations and unrealistic foundations, most people choose to, "...kiss and part." Fleeting affairs and scattered love stories are born out of these 'fall outs', yet no matter what, there hope still remains- for better or for worse, "From death to life thou mightst him yet recover."- and hope is often paired with regret, begging the question, how did anyone even create the notion of "happily ever after"?