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Nocturnes: At Castle Dracula
One, spared your evil, is a victory;
one, past the reach of your perversity;
one by the holy cross wholly protected---
and opposition?---not what you expected.
Old habits die hard, and this century
may strip you of your opportunity.
One taken from you is a glorious start;
one snatched from your grasp----how it warms the heart!
One you have lost defies your dominance,
diminishing your swaggered arrogance,
and (tell the truth!), it shakes your confidence
a bit: one less on which you can exult
yourself . . . and that becomes the real insult,
the sacred stake to your most vulnerable part.
