Poems of Optimism/His last letter

Well, you are free; The longed for, lied for, waited for decree Is yours to-day. I made no protest; and you had your say, And left me with no vestige of repute. Neglect, abuse, and cruelty you charge With broken marriage vows. The list is large But not to be denied. So I was mute.

Now you shall listen to a few plain facts Before you go out wholly from my life As some man’s wife. Read carefully this statement of your acts Which changed the lustre of my honeymoon To sombre gloom, And wrenched the cover from Pandora’s box.

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; And masks itself in smiles, lest men discover. But I was lonely; and the feeling grew The more I studied you. Into your shallow heart love could not come, But yet you loved my love; because it gave The prowess of a mistress o’er a slave. You showed your power In petty tyranny hour after hour, Day after day, year after lengthening years. My tasks, my pleasures, my pursuits were not Held near or dear, Or made to seem important in your thought. My friends were not your friends; you goaded me By foolish and ignoble jealousy, Till, through suggestion’s laws I gave you cause. The beauteous ideal Love had hung In my soul’s shrine, And worshipped as a something all divine, With wanton hand you flung Into the dust. And then you wondered why My love should die. My sins and derelictions cry aloud To all the world: my head is bowed Under its merited reproaches. Yours Is lifted to receive The sympathy the court’s decree insures. The world loves to believe In man’s depravity and woman’s worth; But I am one of many men on earth Whose loud resounding fall Is like the crashing of some well-built wall Which those who seek can trace To the slow work of insects at its base. . . . . . . . Be not afraid. The alimony will be promptly paid