A ballad

[matsunosuperfan]

Trial by Water

'You tell me all your roving years
you've had no love but me.
Look, then, on this mirror lake,
and tell me what you see.'
'I see but my own face, my dear,
green branches, empty skies...'
'Nought else?
Why then these trembling hands,
that dead light in your eyes?'
'Ophelia, Ophelia...'
the wild bird taunting cries.

The meter is irreproachable. A very smooth surface. I was not moved by the narrative. It all feels too considered. The first four lines establish a voice that rings cold and logical, and the poem's attempt to soar into heights of emotion in the final quatrain feels unearned.