J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921.
By Ephelia (17th Cent.?)Mocked in Anger
F
Where treachery and ingratitude command;
There meet with all the plagues that man can bear,
And be as wretched as I’m happy here.
’Twere vain to wish that Heav’n would punish thee,
’Twere vain to invocate the wind and sea,
To fright thee with rude storms, for surely Fate
Without a wish, will punish the ingrate.
Its justice and thy crimes Heav’n so well knows,
That all its creatures it will make thy foes
(If they’re not so already), but none can
Love such a worthless, such a sordid man;
And though we’ve now no public enemies,
And you’re too strong for private piracies,
Yet is the vessel in more danger far,
Than when with all our neighbours we had war:
For all that know what guest it doth contain,
Will strive to fire or sink it in the main.
Plagued for thy sake, they all will reckon thee
The Achan, or accursèd thing to be.