The Forsaken Wife

Methinks, �tis strange you cant afford
One pitying look, one parting word;
Humanity claims this as due,
But what�s humanity to you?

Cruel man! I am not blind.
Your infidelity I find;
Your want of love my ruin shows,
My broken heart, your broken vows.
Yet maugre all your rigid hate,
I will be true in spite of fate;
And one preeminence I�ll claim,
To be for ever still the same.

Show me a man that dare be true.
That dares to suffer what I do;
That can for ever sigh unheard,
And ever love without regard:
I then will own your prior claim
To love, to honour, and to fame;
But till that time, my dear, adieu,
I yet superior am to you.

Elizabeth Thomas

The speaker in this poem uses the weapons of her courage and wit to attack her unfaithful husband.