From September 1917 to March 1918, the New York Call, a Socialist Party newspaper, published a series of thirteen unrhymed free-verse poems on its Sunday “Women’s Sphere” page under the title “The Sayings of Patsy.” Written by Bernice Evans, of whom little is known, the poems addressed the war, capitalism, the role of women in public life, food shortages, and the treatment of workers. Under the Espionage Act of 1917, which granted the authority to the government to withdraw second-class mailing privileges from publications deemed subversive, Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson banned the New York Call (and forty-three other periodicals, including The Masses). Not until May 31, 1921—when President Harding’s postmaster general, Will H. Hays, lifted the ban—did the Call circulate outside New York City.
As Recorded by Bernice Evans
SAYS PATSY:
Sometimes,
These days,
I really don’t know
Just where
My place is.
That certainly is
Confusing.
You see,
I’d always been
Solemnly assured
That it was
“In the home,”
But recently,
It’s been pointed out
That, unquestionably,
My place is
Half way up
A step ladder
Cleaning windows,
So that
One more man
Can go to fight.
It really seems
That my place
Has been mislaid—
Not to say
Permanently lost.
And I begin
To suspect
That it is
Wherever
It’s most convenient
For some folks
To place me.
We’re getting
A lot of praise,
Just now,
For our “patriotism”
In taking
Men’s jobs.
There’s a
Horrible Grin,
Up on Oyster Bay,
Sometimes known as
The Battle Him
Of the Republic,
Who, in times past,
Never deigned
To notice us
At all,
But who writes
A whole column
About us now.
Indeed,
Praise
Is about all
We do get,
Considering that
Women are paid
Just about half
The regular wages
For their work,
Patriotism included.
But,
Be sure of this—
Women aren’t going
To stay fooled
Very long.
It’s a case of
“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes,”
Which, being interpreted,
Readeth,
When interested folks
Wax eloquent
In their praises
Of your patriotism,
And nobility,
And self sacrifice,
And other virtues,
Carefully count
The contents
Of your pay envelope.
But, really,
They ought to be
Grateful to us,
Because
I honestly don’t see
Whom they would do
Without us.
New York Call, December 30, 1917