I read a rather good short story recently and wrote this based upon it
HeartsongThe King was old and weary,
His sword had lain to rest,
When came to him a peasant girl,
Little Sooz, the peasant girl,
Cam for fear of a Gryphon's claws
With a heartbeat hard in her breast
His unicorn banner hung forlorn,
His castle quiet lay,
But he remembered the unicorn,
His banner's moon-white unicorn,
So the hero took his sleeping sword
And the beast he swore to slay.
The king and girl they found their foe,
The gryphon proud and tall,
In a lion's breast there beat a heart,
In the eagle's breast there beat a heart,
Two hearts, one mind on malice bent,
Upon them it did fall.
The King stood firm and he stood fast,
One heart he pierced and broke,
But then the gryphon threw him down,
Tossed him up and threw him down,
And he sprawled in the dust with the girl at his side
And not a word he spoke.
The girl and king lay on the ground,
Two hearts beat fast in tune,
A tune to bring a unicorn,
Amalthea, the unicorn,
Sped to them through the wildwoods,
As bright as a harvest moon.
The duel was short; the fight was fast,
The eagle-heart killed dead.
The two hearts of a gryphon slain,
The one heart of the bold king slain,
And little Sooz, the peasant girl,
Lay cold on an earthen bed.
But that is the power of a unicorn,
The girl she did awake
And so the girl lived ever on,
And so may you live ever on,
But remember the hearts that beat for doom,
Or for our lives would break.