There's a cry in the air about us– <br />We hear it, before, behind– <br />Of the way in which 'We, as women,' <br />Are going to lift mankind! <br /> <br />With our white frocks starched and ruffled, <br />And our soft hair brushed and curled– <br />Hats off! for 'We, as women,' <br />Are coming to save the world. <br /> <br />Fair sisters! listen one moment– <br />And perhaps you'll pause for ten: <br />The business of women as women <br />Is only with men as men! <br /> <br />What we do, 'We, as women,' <br />We have done all through our life; <br />The work that is ours as women <br />Is the work of mother and wife. <br /> <br />But to elevate public opinion, <br />And to lift up erring man, <br />Is the work of the Human Being; <br />Let us do it–if we can. <br /> <br />But wait, warm-hearted sisters– <br />Not quite so fast, so far. <br />Tell me how we are going to lift a thing <br />Any higher than we are! <br /> <br />We are going to 'purify politics,' <br />And to 'elevate the press.' <br />We enter the foul paths of the world <br />To sweeten and cleanse and bless. <br /> <br />To hear the high things we are going to do, <br />And the horrors of man we tell, <br />One would think, 'We, as women,' were angels, <br />And our brothers were fiends of hell. <br /> <br />We, that were born of one mother, <br />And reared in the self-same place, <br />In the school and the church together, <br />We of one blood, one race! <br /> <br />Now then, all forward together! <br />But remember, every one, <br />That 'tis not by feminine innocence <br />The work of the world is done. <br /> <br />The world needs strength and courage, <br />And wisdom to help and feed– <br />When, 'We, as women' bring these to man, <br />We shall lift the world indeed.<br /><br />Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/we-as-women/
