J for Jealousy

I praised the daisies on my lawn,

And then my lady mowed them down.

My garden stones, improved by moss,

She moved- and that was Beauty's loss.

When I adored the sunlight, she

Kept a bright fire indoors for me.

She saw I loved the birds, and that

Made her one day bring home a cat.

She plunks my flowers to deck each room,

And makes me follow where they bloom.

Because my friends were kind and many,

She said- 'What need has Love of any?"

What is my gain, and what  is my loss?

Fire without sun, stones bare of moss,

Daisies beheaded, one by one;

The birds cat-hunted, friends all gone-

These are my losses: yet, I swear,

A love less jealous in its care

Would not be worth the changing skin

That she and I are living in.