Weeping Chandelier
Theodorais parents in the attic told her to play,
She saw their furniture being taken away.
She presently found she had been locked in,
Some bats woke up and heard her sobbing.
The house empty they helped her escape
By a window which they did break.
By the edge of a dump they found a new place to live
Then a music hall turn they worked up and did.
In the provinces the act they first broke,
Theodora played castanets, the bats walked the tightrope,
Theodora danced, the bats played guitars,
Then they somersaulted up into the stars.
Between performances Theodora made sweaters for the bats,
Soon all over Europe crowds they did attract.
Then one evening at a charity tango tea
Theodora met the Duque de Sangree
The Duke showed Theodora his famous chandelier
That weeped when dancers they appeared.
Every time a waltz was played.
Several weeks later their betrothal was made,
Her parents saw her wedding photo,
They recovered their daughter lost so long ago.
But sadly the end is not happy to tell
And did three days later from a balcony her Father fell.
Her Mother while grieving fell off a cliff,
The bats drowned on board a ship.
The Duke was eaten by a shark,
Theodora died of a broken heart.
Edward Gorey