The whispering sisterhood of hidden hate.
The busy band who bear within their lips
The deadliest weapon of earth’s armory:
A blighting tongue—a woman’s blighting tongue!
I will so deftly wield this talisman
To twist and turn and torture good to ill,
That were it in thee to amend thy ways,
Turn anchorite, and yield to holy deeds
Of peace and prayer, goodwill and charity,
Thy holiness should seem an infamy,