Poem by Thomas Hardy

The Coquette, and After

  (Triolets)

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!

1. Genitrix Laesa
2. Song from Heine
3. V.R. 1819–1901
4. Over the Coffin
5. Song to an Old Burden

Print

1448 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version