The Forsaken Wife

The Forsaken Wife by Elizabeth Thomas:

Methinks, ’tis strange you can’t afford

One pitying look, one parting word;

Humanity claims this as due,

But what’s humanity to you?

Cruel man! I am not blind,

Your infidelity I find;

Your want of love my ruin shows,

My broken heart, your broken vows.

Yet maugre all your rigid hate,

I will be true in spite of fate;

And one preeminence I’ll claim,

To be for ever still the same.

Show me a man that dare be true,

That dares to suffer what I do;

That can for ever sigh unheard,

And ever love without regard:

I then will own your prior claim

To love, to honour, and to fame;

But till that time, my dear, adieu,

I yet superior am to you.

Notes:

The tone of the poem is angry. She is confronting her husband

AABB rhyme scheme everywhere such as the first 2 lines

Juxtaposition in line 5-6 (Stanza 2)

This poem is addressing the speakers husband

The speaker is talking, not the poet as the poet never married

This poem is a dramatic monologue, an apostrophe. Apostrophe is when someone who is absent is mentioned/talking

Immediately the poem begins with addressing the husband. She is immediately confrontational

She says "afford". The word has a transactional quality to it. When she says this she is showing the mental poverty the husband has

There is repetition and alliteration. Repetition of the word 'Humanity' depicts the lack of the husbands humanity

She is ending the first quartet (stanza) with a rhetorical question. It is brimming with sarcasm

Her tone changes from mournful to outright fury

He cheated on her. That is what she is angry about and that is why he is guilty

After accusing him, she still says that she will remain faithful to her husband. This is why she is superior to them

She is issuing an ultimatum. Can men even feel as much as women do? She thinks they are uncapable of it

She is establishing a womans superior position which comes from their ability of suffering more than men

She uses hyperbolic language (exaggeration)

Use of words and phrases very much in line with marriage vows. She is repeating the marriage vows. She is mocking them

She will stay true to him, Not out of forgiveness, but out of spite

It is her bitter pride forcing her to stay true to her husband. This is her coping mechanism

There is constant use of polaric quantities (loyalty to infidelity, love vs hate, I vs you)

This poem has been written in the form of rhyming couplets and there are places where there are forced rhymes. There is constant disruption due to the forced rhymes. "afford" and "word" is a forced rhyme

Use of Archaic language reflecting the datedness of marriage. It could also be establishing the importance of the marriage vows.

Image source: https://poetryprof.com/the-forsaken-wife/

Notes by Miss Farheen Khan (2023), compiled by Rayyan Jamil Khan of Class X-T Karachi Grammar School - College Section