Which Has More Patience -- Man or Woman?

Lucy Maud Montgomery 1874 (New London, Prince Edward Island) – 1942 (Toronto)



As my letter must be brief,
I'll at once state my belief,
And this it is -- that, since the world began,
And Adam first did say,
"'Twas Eve led me astray,"
A woman hath more patience than a man.

If a man's obliged to wait
For some one who's rather late,
No mortal ever got in such a stew,
And if something can't be found
That he's sure should be around,
The listening air sometimes grows fairly blue.

Just watch a man who tries
To soothe a baby's cries;
Or put a stove pipe up in weather cold,
Into what a state he'll get;
How he'll fuss and fume and fret
And stamp and bluster round and storm and scold!

Some point to Job with pride,
As an argument for their side!
Why, it was so rare a patient man to see,
That when one was really found,
His discoverers were bound
To preserve for him a place in history!

And while I admit it's true
That man has some patience too,
And that woman isn't always sweetly calm,
Still I think all must agree
On this central fact -- that she
For central all-round patience bears the palm.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
117

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCCB DDEFFE GGHIIH JJKFFK EELKKL
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 998
Words 203
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lucy Maud Montgomery OBE, called "Maud" by family and friends and publicly known as L. more…

All Lucy Maud Montgomery poems | Lucy Maud Montgomery Books

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