The Socialist And The Suffragist

Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman 1860 ( Hartford, Connecticut) – 1935 (Pasadena, California)



Said the Socialist to the Suffragist:
'My cause is greater than yours!
You only work for a Special Class,
We work for the gain of the General Mass,
Which every good ensures!'

Said the Suffragist to the Socialist:
'You underrate my Cause!
While women remain a Subject Class,
You never can move the General Mass,
With your Economic Laws!'

Said the Socialist to the Suffragist:
'You misinterpret facts!
There is no room for doubt or schism
In Economic Determinism–
It governs all our acts!'

Said the Suffragist to the Socialist:
'You men will always find
That this old world will never move
More swiftly in its ancient groove
While women stay behind! '

'A lifted world lifts women up,'
The Socialist explained.
'You cannot lift the world at all
While half of it is kept so small,'
The Suffragist maintained.

The world awoke, and tartly spoke:
'Your work is all the same:
Work together or work apart,
Work, each of you, with all your heart–
Just get into the game!'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
33

Quick analysis:

Scheme Abccb Dxccx Aeffe Dghhg xijji xkllk
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 959
Words 178
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman (July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935) was an American poet, short story writer, novelist, journalist and social reformer. Best known for her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," an autobiographical work which told of a depressed married woman's futile struggle which ended in madness. more…

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