each man kills the thing he loves

• ...
  the man had killed the thing he loved,
  and so he had to die.
  *
  yet each man kills the thing he loves,
  by each let this be heard,
  some do it with a bitter look,
  some with a flattering word.
  the coward does it with a kiss,
  the brave man with a sword!
  
  some kill their love when they are young,
  and some when they are old;
  some strangle with the hands of lust,
  some with the hands of gold:
  the kindest use a knife, because
  the dead so soon grow cold
  
  some love too little, some too long,
  some sell and others buy;
  some do the deed with many tears,
  and some without a sigh:
  for each man kills the thing he loves,
  yet each man does not die.
  
  he does not die a death of shame
  on a day of dark disgrace,
  nor have a noose about his neck,
  nor a cloth upon his face
  nor drop feet foremost through the floor
  into an empty space.
  ...