What are you to me may I ask;
and may I answer you so well?
You were at first a secret masque
of balls whose guests I cannot tell,
a stealthy girl that’s light of task
whose heart is like a hidden dell.
Oh, but now you’re a raven-haired
with state and rank fit for a queen;
a soul who has most often dared
to be the friend I’ve seldom seen,
the one to whom I gave and shared
my quiet hopes that may have been!
You are to me a map and chart
to navigate life’s hardships thru—
the answer to my joyless heart
and to a world that I once rue;
and e’er more the sublimer part
of love and joy that thus ensue