The poem
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!