i long to hold some lady

I long to hold some lady for my love is far away, and will not come tomorrow, and was not here today. There is no flesh so perfect as on my lady's bone, and yet it seems so distant when I am all alone: As though she were a masterpiece in some castled town, that pilgrims come to visit and priests to copy down. Alas, I cannot travel to a love I have so deep or sleep too close beside a love I want to keep. But I long to hold some lady, for flesh is warm and sweet. Cold skeletons go marching each night beside my feet.