Alcestis monologue — Mr. Punch's Dramatic Sequels

Ah! woe is me! Why was I ever born? And why, once dead, did I return again To this distressful earth? Oh, Heracles, Why did you bear me back to this sad place, This palace where Admetus sits enthroned? Oh, what a disagreeable fate it is To live with such a husband--hear his voice Raised ever in complaint, and have no word Of gratitude for all I did for him! Was there another creature in the world Who willingly would die for such a man? Not one! His father, aged though he was, Scouted the proposition as absurd. His mother, when approached, declined in terms Which I should hesitate to reproduce, So frank and so unflattering they were. But I, I gave my life instead of his, And what is my reward? A few cold words Of thanks, a complimentary phrase or two, And then he drops the subject, thinks no more About the matter and is quite annoyed When, as may happen once or twice a day, I accidentally allude to it!