"ONLY a housemaid!" She looked from the kitchen, -- Neat was the kitchen and tidy was she; There at her window a sempstress sat stitching; "Were I a sempstress, how happy I'd be!" "Only a Queen!" She looked over the waters, -- Fair was her kingdom and mighty was she; There sat an Empress, with Queens for her daughters; "Were I an Empress, how happy I'd be!" Still the old frailty they all of them trip in! Eve in her daughters is ever the same; Give her all Eden, she sighs for a pippin; Give her an Empire, she pines for a name! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO THE MEMORY OF INEZ MILHOLLAND by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SONNET: OF THREE GIRLS AND OF THEIR TALK by GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO THE PRIVATE OF THE BUFFS; OR, THE BRITISH SOLDIER IN CHINA by FRANCIS HASTINGS CHARLES DOYLE AT THE TAVERN by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD by THEODORE O'HARA BEDOUIN [LOVE] SONG by BAYARD TAYLOR |