Unicorn

Unicorn

I am my secret self
I am the secret wood
I am the seen and the unseen things
the heard and the never heard.

If you wish to conquer me
(and I know you do)
four trials you must go through:
the quest, the chase, the capture,
and the taming too.

You, my questing knight
with your helmet and lance
glorious deeds will not win me
you have not a chance.

You, my eager hunter
following my trail
your arrows will fall from the air
you will not prevail.

I am a legend
I am a fable
I am your unrequited longing
for the sweet impossible.

For no impossibility
is sweeter than mine
excepting but one
that is the sweet divine.

Only pure love will win me
for only pure love is in me.

Dear lady, most chaste of womankind
I lay my tamed head upon your seated skirt
with all the love within me.

Tapestry The Lady and the Unicorn, 15th century, Musée du Moyen-Age, Cluny, Paris,