By
Rudyard Kipling
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A fool there was and he made his prayer
( Even as you and I ! )
To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair
( We called her the woman who did not care ),
But the fool he called her his lady fair
( Even as you and I ! )
Oh the years we waste and the tears we waste
And the work of our head and hand
Belong to the woman who did not know
( And now we know that she never could know )
And did not understand.
A fool there was and his goods he spent
( Even as you and I ! )
Honor and faith and a sure intent
(And it wasn't the least what the lady meant ),
But a fool must follow his natural bent
( Even as you and I ! )
Ah the toil we lost and the spoil we lost
And the excellent things we planned
Belong to the woman who didn't know why
( And now we know she never knew why )
And did not understand.
The fool was stripped to his foolish hide
( Even as you and I ! )
Which she might have seen when she threw him aside ---
( But it isn't on record the lady tried )
So some of him lived but the most of him died ---
( Even as you and I ! )
And it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame
That stings like a white-hot brand.
It's coming to know that she never knew why
( Seeing at last she could never know why )
And never could understand.
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