(The law compels a married woman to take the nationality of her husband.)
I.
In Time of War
Help us. Your country needs you;
Show that you love her,
Give her your men to fight,
Ay, even to fall;
The fair, free land of your birth,
Set nothing above her,
Not husband nor son,
She must come first of all.
II.
In Time of Peace
What’s this? You’ve wed an alien,
Yet you ask for legislation
To guard your nationality?
We’re shocked at your demand.
A woman when she marries
Takes her husband’s name and nation:
She should love her husband only.
What’s a woman’s native land?
This poem is in the public domain.
About the Poet
Alice Duer Miller was born on July 28, 1874, in Staten Island, New York. In 1895, she attended Barnard College. Duer Miller’s work was influential to women’s suffrage, and her satirical poetry collection, Are Women People? (George H. Doran Company, 1915), became a slogan for the movement. Her verse novel, The White Cliffs (Coward-McCann Incorporated, 1940), was considered influential to the United States’ entry into World War II. Her other work in poetry and prose includes Forsaking All Others (Simon and Schuster, 1933); Women Are People! (New York Tribune, 1917); and Come Out of the Kitchen (The Century Co, 1916).
Want to comment? Click!