Read the epitaphs of Mr. and Mrs. Purkapile from the Spoon River Anthology and answer the question that follows. Mrs. Purkapile HE ran away and was gone for a year. When he came home he told me the silly story Of being kidnapped by pirates on Lake Michigan And kept in chains so he could not write me. I pretended to believe it, though I knew very well What he was doing, and that he met The milliner, Mrs. Williams, now and then When she went to the city to buy goods, as she said. But a promise is a promise And marriage is marriage, And out of respect for my own character I refused
A)Was a divine dispensation/And could not be dissolved,/Except by death. B)She might prove her mortality and let me out C)She said all would be well/That I would return. And I did return. D)SHE loved me./Oh! how she loved me
to be drawn into a divorce By the scheme of a husband who had merely grown tired Of his marital vow and duty. Mr. Purkapile SHE loved me. Oh! how she loved me I never had a chance to escape From the day she first saw me. But then after we were married I thought She might prove her mortality and let me out, Or she might divorce me. But few die, none resign. Then I ran away and was gone a year on a lark. But she never complained. She said all would be well That I would return. And I did return. I told her that while taking a row in a boat I had been captured near Van Buren Street By pirates on Lake Michigan, And kept in chains, so I could not write her. She cried and kissed me, and said it was cruel, Outrageous, inhuman! I then concluded our marriage Was a divine dispensation And could not be dissolved, Except by death. Which best describes the Purkapile's marriage?
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