@2H@1ER that hath hid a babe beneath her breast Through the long, secret days and deepening nights, Kindling with happy hopes and dear delights, Or brooding silent with a dim unrest,— Ask @3her@1, the Mother, what is for women best,— The chase of phantom freedom, mechanic "rights," Sharing with fevered face the cruder fights, Or her high part in the Eternal Quest? She only of her sex can say, for she Alone is Woman whose word is of a son: "In the great Heart-of-Things I feel a plan Encompassing the mystery of me: I mother all mankind in mothering @3one@1,— Through me the race aspires from man to Man!" |