Page:Poems of home and country (IA poemsofhomecount01smit).pdf/154



IS the question of the day;

They discuss it every May,

With all their wit and learning;

And renew it in October, -

Dames, strong-minded, and men, sober,

Stupid souls, and souls discerning.

Oh, for wisdom to pronounce,

To the tittle of an ounce,

For our wives, and for some prim men,

The number, weight, and measure

Of that rich and precious treasure, -

The rights, to wit, of women.

'T is my creed, perhaps I'm wrong,

But I'll say it for a song, -

Their right is to promote us

From bachelors to men,

To excel us with the pen,

But never to outvote us.

Should we let her vote at all, -

Woman great or woman small,

Such majorities might aid her,

That the lords of this creation

Would lose their right and station,

And their claim to run the nation,

From zenith down to nadir.