UNHAND me nurse! thou saucy quean! What does this female tyrant mean? Thus, head and foot, in swathes to bind, 'Spite of the 'Rights of human kind'; And lay me stretched upon my back (Like a poor culprit on the rack); An infant, like thyself born free, And independent, slut! on thee. Have I not right to kick and sprawl, To laugh or cry, to squeak or squall! Has ever, by my act and deed, Thy @3right@1 to rule me been decreed? How dar'st thou, despot! then control Th' exertions of a free-born soul? Though now an infant, when I can, I'll rise and seize 'The Rights of Man'; Nor make my haughty nurse alone, But monarchs tremble, on their throne; And boys and kings thenceforth you'll see Enjoy complete @3Equality@1. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SAND FLESH AND SKY by CLARENCE MAJOR AFTER WRITING A POEM by DAVID IGNATOW IMPELLED by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A MID-DAY DREAMER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON GHOSTS OF THE OLD YEAR by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |