Most people would sell their soul for love; he wants to sell his soul that has already loved, to ensure hers is the life that prospers while his becomes haunted.

A haunting narrative poem structured as an imagined negotiation with the devil, where the speaker offers his soul and broken heart not for personal gain, but to ensure his lost love’s happiness and fortune.

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I wish the devil were here, and I would just kneel

I would sign his contract and make a fair deal

He would laugh in victory, and I would sigh my loss,

he would’ve been so lucky; my wounds would never heal

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I wish the devil were here and asked what I wanted,

I would have asked a favor, which he would’ve just granted

I would have asked for her, joy and good fortune,

my life, au contraire, abandoned and so haunted

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I wish the devil were here and demanded what I offered

‘Take my weary soul,’ I would have just proffered

‘Burn it or torment it, it’s yours to own forever,

or take my tired heart, it’s no more really coffered’

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‘I am not short of souls, their cries fill my hell’

The devil would have snickered, ringing his merry bell

‘But my soul is special, for it has loved and suffered’

I would have begged in anguish, a plea and a yell

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‘A heart is so useless, what purpose will it serve?’

The devil would have said, prodding a raw nerve

‘But my heart is of great value, it’s mended and yet broken,

it has reached its end, but still it throbs with verve’

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‘I like what you offer, let’s both sign this pact,

you get what you want, I will make it all a fact

But you must know it all, and I will make it clear,

you will never love again, and you will only act’

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‘My soul that has loved, to be sold for love’s sake?

My heart that has suffered, to be burnt on the stake?’

I would have cried with joy, I would’ve wept in bliss

‘Let’s sign our pact in blood, please never let it break’