A Modern Proposal

Sylvia, my dear, I would be yours with pleasure,

All that you are seems excellent to me,

Except your mother, who's much more at leisure

Than mothers ought to be.

Find her a fad, a job, an occupation,

Eugenics, dancing, uplift, yes, or crime,

Set her to work for her Emancipation —

That takes a lot of time.

Or, if the suffrage doctrine fails to charm her,

There are the Antis — rather in her line —

Guarding the Home from Maine to Alabama

Would keep her out of mine.