Long-long ago, as the ballad recalls,
In the castle with ivy woven in walls,
Under dark velvet skies, in the eye of the Moon
With sweet-scented fragrance blue roses bloomed.
Dare not to come close to the sharp spikes of white
For vermilion potion is kept in inside.
In those azure bushes, with hearts in a hand
A couple of lovers had found their end.
This story is ancient, as old as can be,
But the roses bore it for you and for me...
~?~
At the times of unrest, with the shade at the door
Two noble homes had found the accord.
Both were as noble as they both were broke,
Not until with a mindful idea they spoke:
The quickest of ways to get hold of the gold
Is to burden your firstling with ought to be sold.
So did the homes, which was spread at that age,
Their daughter and son were swiftly engaged.
As rare as may seem, two young souls were alike.
Such a pure love had bloomed, just as rose with no spike.
Not long after that, with no borders to cross,
They had married each other under trinity cross.
What a blessing, they thought! So thought the homes
Till the terrible truth had been come across.
With no dowry to give, not a penny to souls,
The parents of both realized their flaws.
In a desperate plea, the bride's family backed,
While the groom's had on mind something horrible planned...
~?~
From the oldest of times the unwanted have been
A stranger, a sibling, a vassal, a king...
Those people do differ, thus differ the means:
The blade works on passers, the poison - on queens.
Since at those ancient times you could not just divorce,
There was no other choice but to part them by force.
Not knowing a thing, wife became the unwanted
And, as we all know, lives of such are distorted.
Beware, dear youngling, for the danger is near.
Even mice, when they're cornered, forget all the fear...
The young maiden had tiny blameless devotion -
Her garden was filled with flowery ocean.
Both at daylight and night she would water her green
And beloved to her heart the blue roses had been.
Her husband, young man, was always around.
He would help her with weeds and moles in the ground.
And with knowledge of this parents knew what to do.
Neither wife nor the husband could have any clue...
~?~
Once in the evening, having taken the candle,
Young people were out in the garden to ramble.
At this night parents wanted their son to come home
And spend there some time for the reasons unknown.
How could he reject such a snap invitation?
What a generous lad for his generation!
But first, as to leave he, doubtless, wished not,
Having a walk would be licit, he thought.
With the night just as young as young souls of the two
And stars shining brightly round the glorious Moon,
The man and his wife, his beloved noble flower,
Were having a silent short walk in their garden.
Having to leave, groom had kissed her in cheek,
For his floret he'd chosen a blue rose to pick.
So, he bent to the bush with intention to take it
With no gloves and no doubts. With his eyes surely naked
How could he spot something hidden in core?
The sharp spikes of white were poisoned afore...
~?~
Young man fell dead weight, with his head to wife's feet.
Breaking out from his hand, candle flame was to bleed.
So frightened girl was, with delirious screams,
That she couldn't think straight, getting down on her knees.
Blaze was spreading around, circling the two...
Hideous monster shall not let them through!
With his last heavy breath, man silently prayed:
"My beloved dear floret, get up, run away!"
But the oldest of rules is "Be ready to suffer
And make sacrifice if you called one your lover".
How could she run, leaving Him all alone
In this nightmarish mess, even though he had gone?
The fire was jumping at the speed of star-light.
Even if she could flee, she'd never have might.
Cover the bushes, but do touch no rose -
Those are beautiful liars with poisonous dose.
That night Moon had seen one dead lad and his wife.
Still holding his hand, she was burnt alive.
~?~
In the ashes of truth both were buried next day
And the families cried, having no word to say.
After funeral gospels heads of homes were to meet:
There was question in which none of them could concede.
Bride's house was told about poison in roses
Whereas groom's was daring to mix all the causes.
No guilt were they feeling, as they knew pretty well:
"That girl was a witch, on our son was a spell".
Both families had their fair share of hatred,
It seemed as if this confrontation was fated...
Days passed after days, weeks turned into years,
But homes were becoming more violent and fierce.
Instead of forgiving and taking the blame,
They've started a war, bringing pain and dismay.
Many centuries after their descendants will get
That this war leads to death, so they'll put it an end.
And the moral of ballad is the following one:
From the evil in you only evil can come.