My flask of wine was ruby red <br />And swift I ran my sweet to see; <br />With eyes that snapped delight I said: <br />"How mad with love a lad can be!" <br />The moon was laughing overhead; <br />I danced as nimbly as a flea. <br /> <br />Thought I: In two weeks time we'll wed; <br />No more a lonesome widow she; <br />For I have bought a double bed <br />And I will father children three. <br />So singing like a lark I sped <br />To her who ne'er expected me. <br /> <br />And then I went with wary tread, <br />Her sweet surprise to greet with glee; <br />To where her lamplit lattice shed <br />A rosy radiance on the lea: <br />. . . And then my heart sank low like lead, <br />Two shadows on the blind to see. <br /> <br />A man was sitting on the bed, <br />And she was nudely on his knee. . . . <br />I saw her face drain white with dread, <br />I saw her lover madly flee. . . . <br />Oh how her blood is ruby red, <br />And I await the gallows tree<br /><br />Robert William Service<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/expectation/
