Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BALLAD OF A BAD GIRL, by MABEL DODGE LUHAN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BALLAD OF A BAD GIRL, by                    
First Line: When I was a baby, mother pushed me from my cradle
Last Line: "and teach me how to mother and that's all, all, all!"
Subject(s): Women


When I was a baby, Mother pushed me from my cradle,
But I didn't fall! Oh no, sir! Though it's odd, odd, odd.
I snatched up in the hall Father's silver-headed walking stick
And, a-straddle it, I hastened after God, God, God.

I flew, flew, flew on the silver-headed cane;
Little girls and women were gaping down below,
Higher, higher, higher, past the Hierarchy.
(Mother didn't know of it till Father told her so.

But she didn't care!)
I passed the seven cycles of the old, old men;
All the ancient mariners were gathered safe in rows,
Safely making magic to keep the world a-going,

And from them I found out things no other woman knows.
I passed the ducky angels all busy with their songs;
No way to tell the boys from the girls, girls, girls,
Together they were making the music of the spheres,

And they all wore dresses and they all wore curls.
In these airy regions it was fun, fun, fun!
Honey-cake and ether was a sweet, sweet fare,
And every day I higher went among the secret-masters,

(I'd left my doll below but I didn't care.)
I was lost among the stars and I was glad I was lost,
For I was learning things I'd have never learned in school;
Higher mathematics is to put it very mildly!

(The last thing I learned on earth was called the Golden Rule.
But I forgot that up there.)
For eons and eons I spiralled through the heavens
Father died raving, and Mother? Mother married again.

And sometimes, very queerly, in the middle of a secret,
Way down below upon the earth I felt a little pain.
But that was not important. I kept going, going, going,
Pushing past all barriers and beyond locked gates,

I dodged three grey-haired ladies who all looked very knowing,
Somebody whispered: "Those are the Fates."
And then one day!... (Heavens, what a day for me!)
I pushed past a curtain to where God lay fast asleep.

I knew I'd finally found Him and forever, ever, ever.
And I knew He had the secret that it wasn't His to keep!
Very, very warily I stole to his shining side
Ready to plunge my eager hand within his burning breast,

When out of His heart there up and jumped a very, very angry man,
With blue, blue eyes and a red, red crest.
"Quit that! Get out of here! Down, down, down you go!
Back, back to earth to where you belong.

This no place for women here! Don't you know your business?
You took the wrong turning, and you're wrong, wrong, wrong!"
He pointed a freckled finger down, and I looked down there.
Down, down, down again? How could I go?

But all of a sudden I forgot my lovely secrets
For it ached me, it ached me, the little pain I'd left below.
But that man! He didn't care a bit! He raised a foot and threatened,
"You-clear-out-of-here! Get t' hell, hell, hell!"

I looked amazed and waited but he meant it, oh, he meant it!
While I looked he gave a kick and I fell, fell, fell!
Well, I fell, and I fell, and I fell, fell, fell,
Never any end to it at all, at all, at all.

On the way I learned a secret, the best one of any,
That a Woman can be saved by a fall, fall, fall!
Something made me sorry for what had taken place.
I took my father's silver cane and put it in the hall.

Then I lay down in the pansy bed and whispered:"Mother! mother me,
And teach me how to mother and that's all, all, all!"





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