For a Marriage

By Louise Bogan

She gives most dangerous sight

To keep his life awake:
A sword sharp-edged and bright

That darkness must not break,

Not ever for her sake.

With it he sees, deep-hidden,
The sullen other blade

To every eye forbidden,

That half her life has made,

And until now obeyed.

Now he will know his part:
Tougher than bone or wood,

To clasp on that barbed heart

That once shed its own blood

In its own solitude.