Have gotten ill repute of indolence.
For justice sits not in the eyes of man,
Who, ere he hath discerned his neighbour's heart, 220
Hates him at sight, albeit nowise wronged.
The sojourner must learn the city's wont;
Nor praise I citizens-born, law to themselves,
Mannerless churls, which flout their fellow-folk.
But me—unlooked-for fell this blow on me, 225
And brake mine heart. Undone I am; have lost
All grace of life, and long to die, my friends.
For he that was mine all,—thou know'st it well,—[1]
My lord, of all men basest hath become.
Surely, of creatures that have life and wit, 230
We women are of all things wretchedest,
Who, first, must needs, as buys the highest bidder,
Thus buy a husband, and our body's master
So win—for deeper depth of ill is this.
Nay, risk is dire herein,—or shall we gain 235
An evil lord or good? For change is shame
To woman, nor may she renounce her spouse.
And, coming to new customs, habits new,
Seer need she be, to know the thing unlearnt,
What manner of man her couch's mate shall be. 240
But if we learn our lesson, if our lord
Dwell with us, plunging not against the yoke,
Happy our lot: if not—no help but death.
For the man, when at home they fret his soul,
Goes forth, and stays his loathing heart's disgust, 245
Unto a friend or age-mate turning him.
We have but one, one heart to seek for comfort.
But we, say they, live an unperilled life
- ↑ Or, reading γιγνώσκειν—"For he, to know whom rightly was mine all."
