Poem by Ellis Parker Butler

A Question

Whene’er I feed the barnyard folk
  My gentle soul is vexed;
My sensibilities are torn
  And I am sore perplexed.

The rooster so politely stands
  While waiting for his food,
But when I feed him, what a change!
  He then is rough and rude.

He crowds his gentle wives aside
  Or pecks them on the head;
Sometimes I think it would be best
  If he were never fed.

And so I often stand for hours
  Deciding which is right—
To impolitely have enough,
  Or starve and be polite.

1. Song for Heroes
2. At Variance
3. The Daughter of the Year
4. Circumstantial Evidence
5. The Wood Nymph

Charlotte Gilman (Stetson) A Question ("Why is it, God, that mother's hearts are made")

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