How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #7
As like as not, when they take life over their door-sills
They should let it go by. (19-20)
This is a pretty cold burn. Our speaker sums up her rant by saying that women are basically incapable of life. They shouldn't even bother with it. Still, that's just one (pretty damning) interpretation. Another would be that women are better off doing their own thing, not bringing in outside expectations over their "door-sills" since the rules of life are stacked against them. In 1923, when this poem appeared, that idea would make even more sense than it does today.