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by Anonymous (1743)
by Anonymous (1743)
This anonymously authored poem (presumably written by a female poet, since many women published anonymously during this time) laments the naturalized subservience of women to men in society. As you read, take note of how the female subject's relationships with the men differ and analyze the structure of the poem's message on this topic.
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How wretchéd is a woman’s fate,
No happy change her fortune knows;
Subject to man in every state,
How can she then be free from woes?
In youth, a father’s stern command
And jealous eyes control her will;
A lordly brother watchful stands
To keep her closer captive still.
The tyrant husband next appears,
With awful and contracted brow;
No more a lover’s form he wears:
Her slaves become her sovereign now.
If from this fatal bondage free,
And not by marriage-chains confined,
But, blessed with single life, can see
A parent fond, a brother kind;
Yet love usurps her tender breast,
And paints a phoenix to her eyes:
Some darling youth disturbs her rest,
And painful sighs in secret rise.
Oh cruel powers, since you’ve designed
That man, vain man, should bear the sway,
To a slave’s fetters add a slavish mind,
That I may cheerfully your will obey.
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