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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A WOMAN OF WORDS, by AMANDA BENJAMIN HALL
First Line: One sweet of hands,one starred for grace
Last Line: That there are children to be borne . . .
Alternate Author Name(s): Brownell, John A., Mrs.
Subject(s): Women
First Line: One sweet of hands,one starred for grace
Last Line: That there are children to be borne . . .
Alternate Author Name(s): Brownell, John A., Mrs.
Subject(s): Women
One sweet of hands, one starred for grace,
Should leave the heavy word alone,
Should cease to cut and carve and trace,
End the combat with a stone!
The austere sentence that you drill
Until the granite dust hangs blue,
Etched by your instrument of will
Is bitten not so deep as you.
Lettered for time, in marble told,
Your speech stands chiseled and concise;
Its surfaces are dazzling cold,
Swept clean of dust as ice.
Now hollow as a cup your cheek
In alabaster gleams --
You gave your blood that you might speak
And cut the throat of dreams . . .
The silence softer women bring
Betrays the velvet smile of scorn;
They know a softer, stranger thing --
That there are children to be borne . . .
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