UNSELFISH, silent potently Behind each man of history A woman stands, upon whose strength He leans to cast his shadow's length. She is his stairway to the sky, His bow of hope, his inward eye, His rhythm, yea his very breath That plays betwixt his lips and death. Aye, some brave woman without crown Behind each male-throne huddles down, A sentinel to guard his sleep, A bosom where he kneels to weep. To woman then! whose urge to live Is summed within the right to give, To merge her own identify Into another's entity! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WANDERER: 2. IN FRANCE: THE CHESSBOARD by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON THE BRIDGE BUILDER by WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE A FOREIGN RULER by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR SONNET: 66 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THERMOPYLAE by SIMONIDES OF CEOS WHEN I HEARD AT THE CLOSE OF THE DAY by WALT WHITMAN |