Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“ In those first talks
’Twixt bride and groom I showed you my whole heart,
Showed you how deep my love was and how true;
With all a strong man’s feeling I loved YOU:
(God, how I loved you, my one chosen mate.)
But I learned this
(So poorly did you play your little part) :
You married marriage, to avoid the fate
Of having ‘Miss’
Carved on your tombstone. Love you did not know,
But you were greedy for the showy things
That money brings.
Such weak affection as you could bestow
Was given the provider, not the lover.
The knowledge hurt. Keen pain like that is dumb ”