'The Coquette, and After' by Thomas Hardy (1901)

Poetry

The Coquette, and After

Thomas Hardy (1901)

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!


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