You may talk of woman suffrage now with an educated man,
And he agrees with all you say, as sweetly as he can;
’Twould be better for us all, of course, if womanhood was free;
But “the women do not want it”—and so it must not be!
’Tis such a tender thoughtfulness! So exquisite a care!
Not to pile on our fair shoulders what we do not wish to bear!
But, oh, most generous brother! Let us look a little more—
Have we women always wanted what you gave to us before?
Did we ask for veils and harems in the Oriental races?
Did we beseech to be “unclean,” shut out of sacred places?