I THINK it was a Persian king Who used to say, that evermore In human life each evil thing Comes of the sex that men adore; In brief, that nothing e'er befell To harm or grieve our hapless race, But, if you probe the matter well, You'll find a woman in the case! And then the curious tale is told How, when upon a certain night A climbing youngster lost his hold, And, falling from a ladder's height, Was found, alas! next morning dead, His Majesty, with solemn face, As was his wont, demurely said, "Pray, who's the woman in the case?" And how a lady of his court, Who deemed the royal whim absurd, Rebuked him, while she made report Of the mischance that late occurred; Whereat the king replied in glee, "I've heard the story, please your Grace, And all the witnesses agree There was a woman in the case! "The truth, your Ladyship, is this (Nor is it marvelous at all), The chap was climbing for a kiss, And got, instead, a fatal fall. Whener'er a man -- as I have said -- Falls from a ladder, or from grace, Or breaks his faith, or breaks his head, There is a woman in the case!" For such a churlish, carping creed As that his Majesty professed, I hold him of unkingly breed, -- Unless, in sooth, he spoke in jest. To me, few things have come to pass Of good event, but I can trace, -- Thanks to the matron or the lass, -- Somewhere, a woman in the case. Yet once, while gayly strolling where A vast Museum still displays Its varied wealth of strange and rare, To charm, or to repel, the gaze, -- I -- to a lady (who denied The creed by laughing in my face) -- Took up, for once, the Persian's side About a woman in the case. Discoursing thus, we came upon A grim Egyptian mummy -- dead Some centuries since. "'T is Pharaoh's son, Perhaps; who knows?" the lady said. No! on the black sarcophagus A female name I stooped to trace. Toujours les femmes! 'T is ever thus, -- There was a woman in the case! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...KATIE LEE AND WILLIE GREY by JOSIE R. HUNT ON A FLY DRINKING FROM HIS CUP by WILLIAM OLDYS VIRGILS GNAT by EDMUND SPENSER GOD'S DETERMINATIONS: THE PREFACE by EDWARD TAYLOR TO DEATH OF HIS LADY by FRANCOIS VILLON A SATIRE [OR, SATYR] AGAINST MANKIND by JOHN WILMOT BALLADE OF SCHOPENHAUER'S PHILOSOPHY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS SOLUTION OF THE CHARADE IN THE MUSEUM FOR OCTOBER by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |