Man—Woman

by Lydia Sigourney

Man's home is everywhere. On ocean's flood,
Where the strong ship with storm-defying tether
    Doth link in stormy brotherhood
        Earth's utmost zones together,
Where'er the red gold glows, the spice-trees wave,
Where the rich diamond ripens, mid the flame
    Of vertic suns that ope the stranger's grave,
        He with bronzed cheek and daring step doth rove;
        He, with short pang and slight,
        Doth turn him from the checkered light
    Of the fair moon through his own forests dancing,
        Where music, joy, and love
            Were his young hours entrancing;
        And where ambition's thunder-claim
            Points out his lot,
    Or fitful wealth allures to roam,
        There doth he make his home,
            Repining not.

It is not thus with Woman. The far halls,
    Though ruinous and lone,
Where first her pleased ear drank a nursing mother's tone;
        The home with humble walls,
    Where breathed a parent's prayer around her bed;
        The valley where, with playmates true,
    She culled the strawberry, bright with dew
    The bower where Love her timid footsteps led;
    The hearthstone where her children grew;
        The damp soil where she cast
The flower-seeds of her hope, and saw them bide the blast,—
        Affection with unfading tint recalls,
        Lingering round the ivied walls,
Where every rose hath in its cup a bee,
    Making fresh honey of remembered things,—
Each rose without a thorn, each bee bereft of stings.