MAN’S THREE FOLLIES.
A WOMAN said to sage Voltaire:
“You men are really famous
For just three follies: they’re your share;
For more than three you blame us.
“Man never waits for fruit to fall,
But shakes the tree or beats it;
While woman, in no haste at all,
When fruit has ripened—eats it.
“Men rush to war, defying fate,
And fight as if for pleasure;
When death would come, if men would wait,
And take them at his leisure.
“Man follows woman: foolish chase,
For if he only knew her,
And would but turn from her fair face,
He need not thus pursue her.
“If she once thought man meant retreat,
All scruples she would swallow;
Grass would not grow beneath her feet,
So quickly would she follow.
“We’re not afraid this truth to tell
To men who oft deceive us
We’ve learned their ways, and we know well
That they will not believe us.
“Man will not, cannot turn away
From the fair face of woman;
Her sceptre she will always sway—
At least while man is human!”
Egbert L. Bangs.
