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-2/
