I’ve read of princesses in fairy tales

And I have sometimes dreamed of princesses

But not until to-day have I beheld,

Beheld or ever spoken to a princess.

Yes, I have seen and spoken to a princess

In body and in mind; in thought and gesture,

Indeed, in every way a perfect princess.

Since I am not some mighty potentate

In whom it would not seem as sheer presumption

To lay his heart and domains at her feet,

Would I at least could be a humble page

Forever in attendance on his princess,

To serve her and to worship her in silence,

And be allowed as wages for his hire

To breathe within the shadow of her charms.

But though my princess be reality,

My hopes, my aspirations, my desires,

Alas, are dreams, mere dreams, alas, mere dreams.