He ran away and was gone for a year. <br />When he came home he told me the silly story <br />Of being kidnapped by pirates on Lake Michigan <br />And kept in chains so he could not write me. <br />I pretended to believe it, though I knew very well <br />What he was doing, and that he met <br />The milliner, Mrs. Williams, now and then <br />When she went to the city to buy goods, as she said. <br />But a promise is a promise <br />And marriage is marriage, <br />And out of respect for my own character <br />I refused to be drawn into a divorce <br />By the scheme of a husband who had merely grown tired <br />Of his marital vow and duty.<br /><br />Edgar Lee Masters<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mrs-purkapile/
