And you"re going to say that you greatly fear I don"t understand a woman"s sphere; Now aren"t you honestly?" "Yes," he said.
"I know what you"re going to say," she said, "You"re going to ask what I hope to gain By stepping down to the dusty plain, By seeking a stone when I might have bread; You"re going to say: "Can a vote replace The tender force of a woman"s grace?"
Now, aren"t you honestly?" "Yes," he said.
"I know what you"re going to do," he said, "You"re going to talk to me all day long Trying to make me see I"m wrong; And other men who are less misled Will pale with jealousy when they see The time you give to converting me; Now, aren"t you honestly?" "Ye-es," she said.
What Every Woman Must Not Say
"I don"t pretend I"m clever," he remarked, "or very wise,"
And at this she murmured, "Really," with the right polite surprise.
"But women," he continued, "I must own I understand; Women are a contradiction--honorable and underhand-- Constant as the star Polaris, yet as changeable as Fate, Always flying what they long for, always seeking what they hate."
"Don"t you think," began the lady, but he cut her short: "I see That you take it personally--women always do," said he.
"You will pardon me for saying every woman is the same, Always greedy for approval, always sensitive to blame; Sweet and pa.s.sionate are women; weak in mind, though strong in soul; Even you admit, I fancy, that they have no self-control?"
"No, I don"t admit they haven"t," said the patient lady then, "Or they could not sit and listen to the nonsense talked by men."
Chivalry
It"s treating a woman politely As long as she isn"t a fright: It"s guarding the girls who act rightly, If you can be judge of what"s right; It"s being--not just, but so pleasant; It"s tipping while wages are low; It"s making a beautiful present, And failing to pay what you owe.
_From Our Own Nursery Rhymes_
"Chivalry, Chivalry, where have you been?"
"I"ve been out seeking a beautiful queen."
"Chivalry, Chivalry, what did you find?"
"Commonplace women, not much to my mind."
Women
(_With rather insincere apologies to Mr. Rudyard Kipling_.)
I went to ask my government if they would set me free, They gave a pardoned crook a vote, but hadn"t one for me; The men about me laughed and frowned and said: "Go home, because We really can"t be bothered when we"re busy making laws."
Oh, it"s women this, and women that and women have no sense, But it"s pay your taxes promptly when it comes to the expense, It comes to the expense, my dears, it comes to the expense, It"s pay your taxes promptly when it comes to the expense.
I went into a factory to earn my daily bread: Men said: "The home is woman"s sphere." "I have no home," I said.
But when the men all marched to war, they cried to wife and maid, "Oh, never mind about the home, but save the export trade."
For it"s women this and women that, and home"s the place for you, But it"s patriotic angels when there"s outside work to do, There"s outside work to do, my dears, there"s outside work to do, It"s patriotic angels when there"s outside work to do.
We are not really senseless, and we are not angels, too, But very human beings, human just as much as you.
It"s hard upon occasions to be forceful and sublime When you"re treated as incompetents three-quarters of the time.
But it"s women this and women that, and woman"s like a hen, But it"s do the country"s work alone, when war takes off the men, And it"s women this and women that and everything you please, But woman is observant, and be sure that woman sees.
Beware!
In the days that are gone when a statue was wanted In park or museum where statues must be, A chivalrous male would come forward undaunted And say: "If you must have one, make it of me.
Bad though they be, yet I"ll agree If you must make them, why make them of me."
But chivalry"s dead, as I always expected Since women would not let things stay as they were; So now, I suppose, when a statue"s erected Men will say brutally: "Make it of her."
She may prefer things as they were When they start making the statues of her.
Male Philosophy
Men are very brave, you know, That was settled long ago; Ask, however, if you doubt it, Any man you meet about it; He will say, I think, like me, Men are brave as they can be.
Women think they"re brave, you say?
Do they really? Well, they may, But such biased attestation Is not worth consideration, For a legal judgment shelves What they say about themselves.
From a Man"s Point of View
Women love self-sacrifice Suffering and good advice; If they don"t love these sincerely Then they"re not true women really.
Oh, it shocks me so to note Women pleading for the vote!
Saying publicly it would Educate and do them good.
Such a selfish reason trips Oddly from a woman"s lips.
But it must not be supposed I am in the least opposed.
If they want it let them try it.
For I think we"ll profit by it.
Glory