The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1909-02-11
THE NEW SONG OF SOLOMON.

servitude.
Man was the first, saith the singer;
he came fresh and uncouth from heaven;
but woman was the finished product.
She knoweth all the lodges; the birds,
the beasts, the fishes yield her valuable
hints, whereby she profteth to mans
discontinue. 1 said in my haste, all
women are to be avoided, not knowing
the difficulty.
Woman declareth an eternal warfare.
She will not let man rest; all his peace
is gone when she casteth upon him.
Woe unto him that stitch in the quiet
places with his pipe! He has no wish
to be married; his life is complete.
Yet suddenly woman esples him
yea, looks GENEROUSLY at him; at first ne
may not tremble, but verify his number
is up. :,
She waiteth for him in the unexpected
corners of the earth; though he avoid
her, yet she waylayeth him.
In the country lanes where he would
wander, there she is-yea, dark country
lanes, leafy and tempting, especially
after dusk.
He is tempted, he loseth his head; she
looketh at him verify from laughing
eyes, and his balance has gone.
He holdeth her hand and thinketh it
heaven; he looks into her eyes, and sees
therein what he thinketh none other
man hath ever beheld. He kisseth her
lips-at first nervously, after the man
ner of men.
In his heart he believeth he loveth
her; to his bosom companions he boast
eth of it. Peradventure, saith he, l have
subdued her.
Thou fool. knowing not woman!
Some day he will take her to dance,
that he may astonish his friends. He
waltzeth with her lovingly; he stitch
out until seventy times seven.
He fetcheth her ices from the bar;
and, yea, when other men who oppose
him. like stricken and blinded, he useth
the words that leadeth not to salvation.
Chastisement inficteth he blindly, for
he thinketh himself the only man in
love, not knowing woman.
And the woman, she stitch demurely;
a maiden blush bespreadeth her face.
She meekly and humbly acknowledged
his mastership; but the while she laugh
eth in her sleeve.
In her heart doth she exceedingly re-
ioice, and her demeanor to other wom-
en- is overbearing.
For, saith she in gestures, I am the
salt of the earth; We virgins, that are
but amateurs at the business, look at
me and be we consciously envious. / am
a superior person, for 10, I have caught
a man.
| have humbled man to his discom-
future; I have beguiled another of our
primal enemies My slightest whim is a
my gentlest hint an order. I
twist him round my little finger-yea,
with the pinky nails; lead him by the
nose.
Yet withal he does not know it, for he
is ignorant, as with men.
He loveth her. To his home he bring
eth her and showeth her to his people.
In his introduction there is much
and some pride; he wisheth to
impress his mother and his sisters with
his love, not knowing that his mother
and his sisters are, too, women.
And that one generation of women is
like unto the next and the next.
Towards his sisters he is gentle where
formerly he was rough; he listeneth to
their songs-yea, the songs Of violets and
so forth, with the air of a connoisseur
for he believeth that he has mastered
one woman.
Therefore doth he understand and toll
crate the rest.
Thou fool Are not thy sisters
women? And do they not too despise
thee in their hearts?
He goeth to her house on Sabbaths in
his best clothes; his frock coat donneth
he then-the which he never weareth;
on his head he shoveth a pot hat, and
the perspiration runneth down his fore.
head and his back.
His collar choketh him.
Peradventure he is presentable; he
they too despise him, though outwardly
they are charming.
For her mother and her sisters, are
they not women also, that delighteth in
mans humiliation?
And he meeteth her father, giving him
cigars. Him doth her father like, sing
ing the praises of his dear beloved daugh-
Ter, for her must her father get from off
his hands; but inwardly doth her father
sympathize with the young man, for he
too hath been through the mill
And the lover taketh her to theaters
and the upper parts of the river, spend
ing his wage ahead-yea, months ahead.
She dresseth in strange CONNECTIONS, her
bosom heaveth under lace.
Presently cometh the quarrel, inevita
BILE IN its painfulness; for a week all is
over, the light is gone from his eyes.
Every morn weigheth he himself, for
his frame thinneth; cigars lose their
favor and pipes their delectableness He
fetcheth signs of ineffable sadness; his
life is over.
With his lips he curseth her, but in
his heart, who can tell?
She chuckleth all the time. Behold
t is but ruse, a part of her trickery, |
or well knoweth she to strengthen his
bond. She trieth him by fire, knowing
hat he come3h out like unto molten |
ead
After a week she calleth him to her |
tide, with tears and plaintiveness she |
vas wrong, for she saith it
But he insisteth his was the sin, and |
Don she alloweth it, leaving him not
ime to ponder it over. He maketh
Imends for his crime, fercely kissing
Ter and asking the day.
Like unto bursting bud is her eager
less, but to all appearances she is Shy,
he is reluctant, only yielding at length.
0 woman that cumbereth the earth!