The Prisoner of Zenda
At the end a "The Prisoner of Zenda," The King being out of danger, Stewart Granger (As Rudolph Rassendyll) Must swallow a bitter pill By renouncing his co-star, Deborah Kerr. It would be poor behavia In him and in Princess Flavia Were they to put their own Concerns before those of the Throne. Deborah Kerr must wed The King instead. Rassendyll turns to go. Must it be so? Why can't they have their cake And eat it, for heaven's sake? Please let them have it both ways, The audience prays. And yet it is hard to quarrel With a plot so moral. One redeeming factor, However, is that the actor Who plays the once-dissolute King (Who has learned through suffering Not to drink or be mean To his future Queen), Far from being a stranger, Is also Stewart Granger.
From The Mind Reader: New Poems by Richard Wilbur, published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Copyright © 1976 by Richard Wilbur. Used with permission. All rights reserved.