Yes, injured Woman! rise, assert thy right! <br /> Woman! too long degraded, scorned, opprest; <br /> O born to rule in partial Law's despite, <br /> Resume thy native empire o'er the breast! <br /> Go forth arrayed in panoply divine; <br /> That angel pureness which admits no stain; <br /> Go, bid proud Man his boasted rule resign, <br /> And kiss the golden sceptre of thy reign. <br /> Go, gird thyself with grace; collect thy store <br /> Of bright artillery glancing from afar; <br /> Soft melting tones thy thundering cannon's roar, <br /> Blushes and fears thy magazine of war. <br /> Thy rights are empire: urge no meaner claim,-- <br /> Felt, not defined, and if debated, lost; <br /> Like sacred mysteries, which withheld from fame, <br /> Shunning discussion, are revered the most. <br /> Try all that wit and art suggest to bend <br /> Of thy imperial foe the stubborn knee; <br /> Make treacherous Man thy subject, not thy friend; <br /> Thou mayst command, but never canst be free. <br /> Awe the licentious, and restrain the rude; <br /> Soften the sullen, clear the cloudy brow: <br /> Be, more than princes' gifts, thy favours sued;-- <br /> She hazards all, who will the least allow. <br /> But hope not, courted idol of mankind, <br /> On this proud eminence secure to stay; <br /> Subduing and subdued, thou soon shalt find <br /> Thy coldness soften, and thy pride give way. <br /> Then, then, abandon each ambitious thought, <br /> Conquest or rule thy heart shall feebly move, <br /> In Nature's school, by her soft maxims taught, <br /> That separate rights are lost in mutual love.<br /><br />Anna Laetitia Barbauld<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-rights-of-woman/
