Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN, by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN, by             Poem Explanation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yes, injured woman! Rise, assert thy right!
Last Line: That seperate rights are lost in mutual love.
Alternate Author Name(s): Aikin, Anna Letitia
Variant Title(s): The Rights Of Women
Subject(s): Women's Rights; Women's Rights; Feminism; Feminism


Yes, injured Woman! rise, assert thy right!
Woman! too long degraded, scorned, oppressed;
O born to rule in partial Law's despite,
Resume thy native empire o'er the breast!

Go forth arrayed in panoply divine,
That angel pureness which admits no stain;
Go, bid proud Man his boasted rule resign
And kiss the golden spectre of thy reign.

Go, gird thyself with grace, collect thy store
Of bright artillery glancing from afar;
Soft melting tones thy thundering cannon's roar,
Blushes and tears thy magazine of war.

Thy rights are empire; urge no meaner claim, --
Felt, not defined, and if debated, lost;
Like sacred mysteries, which withheld from fame,
Shunning discussion, are revered the most.

Try all that wit and art suggest to bend
Of thy imperial foe the stubborn knee;
Make treacherous Man thy subject, not thy friend;
Thou mayest command, but never canst be free.

Awe the licentious and restrain the rude;
Soften the sullen, clear the cloudy brow;
Be, more than princes' gifts, thy favors sued; --
She hazzards all, who will the least allow.

But hope not, courted idol of mankind,
On this proud eminence secure to stay;
Subduing and subdued, thou soon shalt find
Thy coldness soften, and thy pride give way.

Then, then, abandon each ambitious thought;
Conquest or rule thy heart shall feebly move,
In Nature's school, by her soft maxims taught
That seperate rights are lost in mutual love.




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