Though man professes that he holds our sex
In utter scorn, I’ll undertake to say
If you could read the secrets of his heart,
He’d rather be alone with one of you
Than with five hundred of his fellow-men!
In all things we excel. Believing this,
Five hundred maidens here have sworn to place
Their foot upon his neck. If we succeed,
We’ll treat him better than he treated us,
But if we fail—oh then let hope fail too!