Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WOMEN'S LONGING by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER

First Line: TELL ME WHAT IS THAT ONLY THING
Last Line: FOR THEY KNOW NOT HOW TO USE IT.
Subject(s): WOMEN;
TELL me what is that only thing
For which all women long;
Yet having what they most desire,
To have it does them wrong?

'Tis not to be chaste nor fair,
(Such gifts malice may impair),
Richly trimmed, to walk or ride,
Or to wanton unespied,
To preserve an honest name
And so to give it up to fame--
These are toys. In good or ill
They desire to have their will:
Yet when they have it, they abuse it,
For they know not how to use it.



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