MÉSALLIANCE

With gentle manners, winsome face,

And forehead fit to wear a crown,

How brilliant might have been her place,

Had she not mated with a clown,—

A Caliban of modern date,

Ill-dressed, ill-shapen, ill at ease,

With halting speech and awkward gait,

And manners certain to displease!

What secret motive could have led

This charming girl her life to stain

By condescending thus to wed

A husband whom she must disdain?

Far worthier men had vainly sought

To win her for herself alone;

What potent spell could Love have wrought

To draw her to a tactless drone?

A palace she might well have graced.

And led its functions like a queen;

Instead, her life has run to waste,

The wraith of what it might have been.

For boorishness hath brought its blight;

Her rare accomplishments are marred,

And every path, with promise bright,

By stupid tyranny is barred.

Yet still she bravely moves through life,

Ignoring her pathetic fall;—

A loveless, broken-hearted wife;

Alas, the pity of it all!