The Melancholy Knight of Lonesome Isle

His name, Sir Cedric, known in tales of yore,
A valiant soul, yet burdened by regret,
For in his chest, a secret he bore,
A love unspoken, a fate that he met.

Upon the isle, where dreams and shadows blend,
He wandered ‘neath the silvered moon’s embrace,
In every wave, a memory, a friend,
Yet solitude was all that he could trace.

Once, in the gardens of a castle grand,
He glimpsed a maiden with a heart of light,
Her laughter danced like grains of golden sand,
And in her presence, all the world felt right.

Her name was Elenor, a rose in bloom,
With eyes like stars that pierced the evening’s veil,
Yet fate, a cruel mistress, brought forth gloom,
As whispers turned to winds, and love grew pale.

For Cedric, bound by honor, sworn to fight,
Did heed the call of battles far away,
Leaving Elenor, a beacon in the night,
Unknowing that his heart would rue the day.

Years passed like shadows, fleeting, swift and cold,
The knight returned, but found the isle bereft,
For Elenor, in whispers soft and bold,
Had faded like a dream, by time bereft.

In anguish deep, he searched the windswept sand,
Each grain a testament to love once shared,
But fate, with cruel intent and heavy hand,
Had woven paths where hearts were left ensnared.

“Where art thou, love?” he cried, his voice a plea,
The echoes answered with a mournful song,
The waves responded with a haunting glee,
Yet in their laughter lay the truth so wrong.

A tempest rose, the skies grew dark and wild,
As Cedric stumbled through the clinging mist,
His heart a tempest, he, a broken child,
And in that storm, a ghostly figure kissed.

Elenor appeared, her visage pale and frail,
With tears like pearls that sparkled in the night,
“Dear Cedric, why didst thou not seek me, fail—
To know thy heart was bound to endless flight?”

With trembling hands, he reached to touch her face,
But she, a wisp of memory, slipped away,
“I waited long, through every time and space,
Yet love unspoken leads to shadows’ play.”

The knight fell to his knees upon the shore,
The waves devoured dreams like grains of sand,
His heart, a vessel broken evermore,
In solitude, he wept, his soul unmanned.

As dawn broke soft, the isle was still and bare,
No songs of joy, nor laughter filled the air,
A knight once bold, now steeped in endless night,
In love’s cruel game, he lost the final fight.

Thus, let this tale of Cedric’s woe be told,
Of love unspoken, secrets lost in time,
For in the heart, a treasure oft lies cold,
And in its silence, echoes of the chime.