“Oh, That ‘Twere Possible!”
With apologies to Lord Tennyson.
(“The grant of suffrage to women is repugnant to instincts that strike their roots deep in the order of nature. It runs counter to human reason, it flouts the teachings of experience and the admonitions of common sense.”—N.Y. Times, Feb. 7, 1915.)
Oh, that ‘twere possible
After those words inane
For me to read The Times
Ever again!
When I was wont to read it
In the early morning hours,
In a mood ‘twixt wrath and mirth,
I exclaimed: “Alas, Ye Powers,
These ideas are fainter, quainter
Than anything on earth!”
A paper’s laid before me.
Not thou, not like to thee.
Dear me, if it were possible
The Times should ever see
How very far the times have moved
(Spelt with a little “t”).
This poem is in the public domain.
Alice Duer Miller
Alice Duer Miller was born on July 28, 1874, in Staten Island, New York. Her work was influential to women’s suffrage, and her satirical poetry collection, Are Women People? (1915), became a slogan for the movement. She died August 22, 1942, in New York City.