Woman's Rights

Women's Rights

by Annie Louisa Walker

You cannot rob us of the rights we cherish,

Nor turn our thoughts away

From the bright picture of a "Woman's Mission"

Our hearts portray.

We claim to dwell, in quiet and seclusion,

Beneath the household roof,--

From the great world's harsh strife, and jarring voices,

To stand aloof;--

Not in a dreamy and inane abstraction

To sleep our life away,

But, gathering up the brightness of home sunshine,

To deck our way.

As humble plants by country hedgerows growing,

That treasure up the rain,

And yield in odours, ere the day's declining,

The gift again;

So let us, unobtrusive and unnoticed,

But happy none the less,

Be privileged to fill the air around us

With happiness;

To live, unknown beyond the cherished circle,

Which we can bless and aid;

To die, and not a heart that does not love us

Know where we're laid.

This poem was written by Annie Louisa Walker, a British woman, and she's claiming that not only men should have rights for everything but also women. She was the brave woman to write about racism between different genders, and go against and oppose to it. In this period, men were the only ones who were respected in an appropriate way and allowed to go to school; get a proper education, because of prejudice. Annie operated a school for ladies to let them have a good education. We can notice that she growed in an unfair environment. In this poem, she is saying women must live happy lives as well as others. This is very important because the men and women's values must be all equivalent, even now. Thus, gender discrimonation shouldn't exist in this world, and instead, men and women must be treated equally.