Pretty Words

She dealt her pretty

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She dealt her pretty words like Blades — How glittering they shone — And every One unbared a Nerve Or wantoned with a Bone — She never deemed — she hurt — That — is not Steel’s Affair — A vulgar grimace in the Flesh — How ill the Creatures bear — To Ache is … Read more

Women know the way

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Women know the way to rear up children (to be just). They know a simple, merry, tender knack of tying sashes, fitting baby-shoes, and stringing pretty words that make no sense. And kissing full sense into empty words. Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Lady, lady, never start

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Lady, lady, never start Conversation toward your heart; Keep your pretty words serene; Never murmur what you mean. Show yourself, by word and look, Swift and shallow as a brook. Be as cool and quick to go As a drop of April snow; Be as delicate and gay As a cherry flower in May. Lady, … Read more

An election marks the

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An election marks the end of the affair; it puts paid to the seduction of the many by the few. Pretty words, fulsome promises. We wind up married, but to whom, to what? We cannot always predict with certainty the future leader from the winning candidate. Some men grow in the job; others are diminished … Read more