Suffrage Songs and Verses

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Description

Suffrage Songs and Verses (1911) is a collection of political poems by American author and feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Inspired by her work as a social reformer and advocate for women’s suffrage, Gilman turned to poetry as a means of supporting the cause of suffragists everywhere. Although she is widely recognized for her novels, short stories, and nonfiction, Gilman’s poetry showcases her command of language and fiery passion for the political and social advancement of women.

“She Walketh Veiled and Sleeping” opens the collection with an image of latent power, a woman “[s]low advancing, halting, creeping…to the hour” of her liberation. In “Locked Inside,” Gilman echoes the trope of poetry as a voice imprisoned—explored by such poets as Ovid, Coleridge, and Dickinson—to envision a woman who “beats upon her bolted door, / With faint weak hands,” barred from the life of the world she not only desires, but desperately needs. In “Boys Will Be Boys”—a poem with a message for our contemporary awakening to the violence perpetrated by men against women—Gilman argues that women must turn to “love and truth” rather than “warfare” in order to have their way. Other poems in Suffrage Songs and Verses explore the nature of motherhood, the institution of marriage, and the need to elevate individual identity beyond the confines of gender. Gilman’s work as a poet proves a substantial contribution to both the suffragist cause and the vibrant tradition of political poetry in twentieth century literature.

With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Suffrage Songs and Verses is a classic of American literature and poetry reimagined for modern readers.

Sujets

• Women's Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• American Woman
• American studies

Informations

• Publié par: Mint Editions
• Date de parution: 05 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781513274850
• Langue: English

Extrait

Suffrage Songs and Verses
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
 
 
Suffrage Songs and Verses was first published in 1911.
This edition published by Mint Editions 2021.
ISBN 9781513269856 | E-ISBN 9781513274850
Published by Mint Editions ®
minteditionbooks .com
Publishing Director: Jennifer Newens
Design & Production: Rachel Lopez Metzger
Typesetting: Westchester Publishing Services
 
C ONTENTS S HE W ALKETH V EILED AND S LEEPING C OMING L OCKED I NSIDE N OW W OMEN OF T O-DAY B OYS W ILL B E B OYS F OR F EAR M OTHER TO C HILD A Q UESTION T HE H OUSEWIFE W EDDED B LISS F EMALES W E A S W OMEN G IRLS OF T O-DAY W OMEN TO M EN R EASSURANCE T HE S OCIALIST AND THE S UFFRAGIST T HE M ALINGERER T HE A NTI- S UFFRAGISTS T HE A NTI AND THE F LY T O THE I NDIFFERENT W OMEN W OMEN D O N OT W ANT I T S ONG FOR E QUAL S UFFRAGE A NOTHER S TAR S HE W HO I S T O C OME
 
S HE W ALKETH V EILED AND S LEEPING
She walketh veiled and sleeping,
For she knoweth not her power;
She obeyeth but the pleading
Of her heart, and the high leading
Of her soul, unto this hour.
Slow advancing, halting, creeping,
Comes the Woman to the hour!—
She walketh veiled and sleeping,
For she knoweth not her power.
 
C OMING
Because the time is ripe, the age is ready,
Because the world her woman’s help demands,
Out of the long subjection and seclusion
Come to our field of warfare and confusion
The mother’s heart and hands.
Long has she stood aside, endured and waited,
While man swung forward, toiling on alone;
Now, for the weary man, so long ill-mated,
Now, for the world for which she was created,
Comes woman to her own.
Not for herself! though sweet the air of freedom;
Not for herself, though dear the new-born power;
But for the child, who needs a nobler mother,
For the whole people, needing one another,
Comes woman to her hour.
 
L OCKED I NSIDE
She beats upon her bolted door,
With faint weak hands;
Drearily walks the narrow floor;
Sullenly sits, blank walls before;
Despairing stands.
Life calls her, Duty, Pleasure, Gain—
Her dreams respond;
But the blank daylights wax and wane,
Dull peace, sharp agony, slow pain—
No hope beyond.
Till she comes a thought! She lifts her head,
The world grows wide!
A voice—as if clear words were said—
“Your door, O long imprison é d,
Is locked inside!”
 
N OW