Ode to Ophelia


O, beauteous one,
Ophelia fair
Night Jasmine on the vine.
Her heady scent
Her skin so soft
The Love she gave divine.

Black death attacks
Her father dear.
O woe! Too much to bear!
Her mind unhinged
Her future dark,
Her very life forswear.

To run, escape!
Small feet they fly,
Dark river rushing deep.
The spreading tree
With shelt'ring boughs
What secrets do you keep?

Tormented mind
Tormented soul
Night Jasmine left to wilt.
She gasps her last
Her fate is sealed
Laid on a bier of silt.


Copyright December 1998 J. Montgomery
Written about Ophelia, from "Hamlet", in one of his favorite styles.