I am a prince, privileged not common
In a snap my servants I summon
Finery I have, palace, clothes, servants, wine
Yet they are my father's, they are not mine
Without him my title fades
For all a prince is, is a scion of a king.
Yet, of course I have intrinsic worth
Provided by nobility of birth
Royal blood in veins of blue
But in this pool of marble and floating petals
My nakedness shows me I am but mortal
Surely none else can enjoy my courts
Only those of my status may promenade
In the ballroom, the garden, the colonnade
Servants may never meet my gaze
For to them I am a demigod displayed
Yet princes there are of a higher tier
With whom I'm not even a peer
The crown prince of the empire I call sire
Though he calls me 'Lord prince' I'm seen as a squire
Pfah! Away with trappings away with names
Without which we are all the same
I seek a dignity beyond my office
I seek the validation of my own conscience
Pathetic cur, creature of discontent
No songs of joy, merely dirges of lament
Better the peasants such joy in their frolic
No palace, no servants, no titles, no courts
Just simple existence and a joy of sorts
Where am I to be? Where is there to go?
What is there to see? What is there to know?
I'm a solitary naked soul
Just a hollow, a void, a hole
Keats
04-04-09
