The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #28733 Message #2689199
Posted By: Jim Dixon
28-Jul-09 - 06:37 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: The Alphabet Song variations
Subject: Lyr Add: THE FEMINIST ALPHABET
From The Poetic Year for 1916 by William Stanley Braithwaite (Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1917), page 239:
^^
THE FEMINIST ALPHABET.
Compiled by an agnostic.
A is for Antis — the allies of sin,
Who scourge Suffragitis with horrible din.
B is for Ballot — the sceptre which rules,
Not granted to Women, ex-convicts or fools.
C is for Child Labor (let plutocrats gloat).
How long would it last if Mothers could vote?
D is for Duty men owe to their Wives,
To give them the vote — then repent all their lives.
E is for Equality — sought at the polls
By feminine creatures with masculine souls.
F is for Franchise — 'Tis plain to be seen
They'll have it, God bless 'em, by nineteen steen steen.
G is for Girls — whenever they start
They'll vote with their head — but more with their heart.
H is for Husband with resolute jaw,
Who, when you have children, is required by law.
I is for Infant — asleep in her crib,
Deprived of a vote through descent from a rib.
J is for Justice which Women pursue.
They obey all the laws — why not make just a few?
K is for Kerbstone — where humble men stand
And watch suffrage pageants keep step with the band.
L is for Ladies — chock full of hard knocks
For the masculine voter, while darning his socks.
M is for Manacles — fetters which years
Have forged on the wrists of the Women, poor dears!
N is for Nations — learning at last
That shy, shrinking Woman's a thing of the Past.
O is for Oak — once for clinging vines suited,
But strong grew the vine, so the tree's been uprooted.
P is for Papa — once head of the house,
But since Mother voted as meek as a mouse.
Q is for Quibble — dare any man state
That Suffragettes do it when pressed in debate?
R is for Reverence — which decent man shows
To his charming and arduous suffragist foes.
S is for Sex — which being made double
Is really the mainspring of all of this trouble.
T is for Taxes — which Woman must pay.
Concerning their uses she's nothing to say.
U is for Union — for thus, hand in hand,
Queen Man and King Woman united should stand.
V is for Voting — what feminine bliss
Except perhaps flirting, is greater than this?
W is for Woman — the Mother of men,
But without any fathers, Mrs. Woman, what then?
X is for Xanthippe — quite set, as you know,
Did she, too, root for suffrage, so long, long ago?
Y is for Yoke — such as dumb cattle wear.
Let him who'd grind Woman to earth have a care!
Z is for Zenith (no more 'don'ts' and 'can'ts')
When Woman will stalk through the World wearing 'pants'!"