Ella Wheeler Wilcox,
Poems of Optimism — A Successful Man
(1919)
“ There was a man who killed a loving maid In some mad mood of passion; and he paid The price, upon a scaffold. Now his name Stands only as a synonym for shame. There was another man, who took to wife A loving woman. She was full of life, Of hope, and aspirations; and her pride Clothed her like some rich mantle. First, the wide Glad stream of life that through her veins had sway He dammed by rocks, cast in it, day by day. Her flag of hope, flung gaily to the world, He placed half mast, and then hauled down, and furled. ”
