Alas, I would I were a child again,
Steeped in dream languors by the purple sea,
And Athens but the vision it was then,
Its great men good, its noble women free—
That I on some winged ship should strive to fly
To reach this goal, and founder and go down.
O, impious thought! how could I wish to die,
With all that I have felt and learned unknown?
Nay, I am glad to be to future times
As much Athenian as is Pericles;
Proud to be named by men of other climes
The friend and pupil of great Socrates.
What is the gossip of the city dames
Behind their lattices to one like me?
More glorious than their high patrician names
I hold my privilege of being free!
And yet I would that they were free as I;
It angers me that women are so weak,
Looking askance when ere they pass me by
Lest on a chance their lords should see us speak;
And coming next day to an audience
In hope of learning to resemble me:
They wish, they tell me, to learn eloquence—
The lesson they should learn is liberty.
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