| 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!) | |
| Honour 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!) | |
| |
| Oh, 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 that 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!”
--Rudyard Kipling, 1897 |
