Classic Poem

I
For long the cruel wish I knew
That your free heart should ache for me,
While mine should bear no ache for you;
For, long--the cruel wish!--I knew
How men can feel, and craved to view
My triumph--fated not to be
For long! . . . The cruel wish I knew
That your free heart should ache for me!
II

At last one pays the penalty--
The woman--women always do.
My farce, I found, was tragedy
At last!--One pays the penalty
With interest when one, fancy-free,
Learns love, learns shame. . . . Of sinners two
At last one pays the penalty--
The woman--women always do!