Poem “What We Needed” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Maurine and Other Poems

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American Literature – American Poetry – Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Maurine and Other Poems
< < < Platonic
Leudemann’s‑On‑The‑River > > >

What We Needed

What does our country need? Not armies standing
   With sabres gleaming ready for the fight.
Not increased navies, skillful and commanding,
   To bound the waters with an iron might.
Not haughty men with glutted purses trying
   To purchase souls, and keep the power of place.
Not jeweled dolls with one another vieing
   For palms of beauty, elegance and grace.

But we want women, strong of soul, yet lowly,
   With that rare meekness, born of gentleness,
Women whose lives are pure and clean and holy,
   The women whom all little children bless.
Brave, earnest women, helpful to each other,
   With finest scorn for all things low and mean.
Women who hold the names of wife and mother,
   Far nobler than the title of a Queen.

O these are they who mold the men of story,
   These mothers, ofttimes shorn of grace and youth,
Who, worn and weary, ask no greater glory
   Than making some young soul the home of truth,
Who sow in hearts all fallow for the sowing
   The seeds of virtue and of scorn for sin,
And, patient, watch the beauteous harvest growing
   And weed out tares which crafty hands cast in.

Women who do not hold the gift of beauty
   As some rare treasure to be bought and sold,
But guard it as a precious aid to duty—
   The outer framing of the inner gold;
Women who, low above their cradles bending,
   Let flattery’s voice go by, and give no heed,
While their pure prayers like incense are ascending:
These are our country’s pride, our country’s need.

< < < Platonic
Leudemann’s‑On‑The‑River > > >

American Literature – American Poetry – Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Maurine and Other Poems

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What We Needed

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