A Song: Strephon, your breach of faith and trust

By Laetitia Pilkington
Strephon, your breach of faith and trust
     Affords me no surprise;
A man who grateful was, or just,
     Might make my wonder rise.

That heart to you so fondly tied,
     With pleasure wore its chain,
But from your cold neglectful pride,
     Found liberty again.

For this no wrath inflames my mind,
     My thanks are due to thee;
Such thanks as gen'rous victors find,
     Who set their captives free.

Source: English Women's Poetry, Elizabethan to Victorian (edited by R.E. Pritchard) (Fyfield Books, 1990)