Page:The princess; a medley (IA princessmedley00tennrich).pdf/38

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
30
THE PRINCESS;
To woman, superstition all awry:However then commenced the dawn; a beamHad slanted forward, falling in a landOf promise; fruit would follow. Deep, indeed,Their debt of thanks to her who first had daredTo leap the rotten pales of prejudice,Disyoke their necks from custom, and assertNone lordlier than themselves but that which madeWoman and man. She had founded; they must build:Here might they learn whatever men were taught:Let them not fear: some said their heads were less:Some men's were small; not they the least of men;For often fineness compensated size:Besides the brain was like the hand, and grewWith using; thence the man's, if more was more;He took advantage of his strength to beFirst in the field; some ages had been lost;But woman ripen'd earlier, and her lifeWas longer; and albeit their glorious namesWere fewer, scatter'd stars, yet since in truth
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.