If They Meant All They Said

Alice Duer Miller 1874 (New York) – 1942 (New York)



Charm is a woman's strongest arm;
My charwoman is full of charm;
I chose her, not for strength of arm
But for her strange, elusive charm.
  
And how tears heighten woman's powers!
My typist weeps for hours and hours:
I took her for her weeping powers,
They so delight my business hours.
  
A woman lives by intuition.
Though my accountant shuns addition
She has the rarest intuition.
(And I myself can do addition.)
  
Timidity in girls is nice.
My cook is so afraid of mice.
Now you'll admit it's very nice
To feel your cook's afraid of mice.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 528
Words 102
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Alice Duer Miller

Alice Duer Miller was a writer from the U.S. whose poetry actively influenced political opinion. Her feminist verses made an impact on the suffrage issue, and her verse novel The White Cliffs encouraged U.S. entry into World War II. She also wrote novels and screenplays. more…

All Alice Duer Miller poems | Alice Duer Miller Books

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