The Female of the Species

http://www.potw.org/archive/potw96.html ^ | ? | Rudyard Kipling

[backhoe]

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

The Female of the Species

    WHEN the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
    He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
    But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
    For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

    When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,
    He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can.
    But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail.
    For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

    When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
    They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws.
    'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale.
    For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

    Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
    For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
    But when hunter meets with husbands, each confirms the other's tale—
    The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

    Man, a bear in most relations—worm and savage otherwise,—
    Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise.
    Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
    To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

    Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
    To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
    Mirth obscene diverts his anger—Doubt and Pity oft perplex
    Him in dealing with an issue—to the scandal of The Sex!

    But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
    Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same;
    And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
    The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

    She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
    May not deal in doubt or pity—must not swerve for fact or jest.
    These be purely male diversions—not in these her honour dwells—
    She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else.

    She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
    As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate.
    And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
    Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

    She is wedded to convictions—in default of grosser ties;
    Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies!—
    He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild,
    Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

    Unprovoked and awful charges—even so the she-bear fights,
    Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons—even so the cobra bites,
    Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw
    And the victim writhes in anguish—like the Jesuit with the squaw!

    So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
    With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
    Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
    To some God of Abstract Justice—which no woman understands.

    And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
    Must command but may not govern—shall enthral but not enslave him.
    And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
    That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.

---

This poem can be found, for example, in:

• Kipling, Rudyard. Rudyard Kipling's Verse: Inclusive Edition, 1885-1918. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1919.
• Felleman, Hazel, ed. The Best Loved Poems of the American People. Garden City, NY: Garden City Books, 1936.

[Sabertooth]

And women's instinct ... honed to perfection. Some think they are base, animal instincts.

Yours, or women's in general?

[backhoe]

Well, it *is* pretty funny!

[2Trievers]

Mine, of course. I speak only for moi.

Est-ce que vous vraiment vous intéressez ou seulement un fripon? Esprits qui demandent ...

[Sabertooth]

Who's setting traps now?

[2Trievers]

Oh, Long of Tooth, Sir Saber ... fierce or fearsome? Retreating or rejoining? Paper tiger or saber-toothed?

[~EagleNebula~]

no fair using a foreign language without an interpreter!!

[~EagleNebula~]

Spouse and I have been howling at your poetry!

You write very well....do you do this often? with other subject matter? ::snicker::

[2Trievers]

"All's fair in love and war." &;-)

[~EagleNebula~]

ROFLMBO!!! Too true! i had to learn German in highschool....there is nothing romantic about that language....so here i sit. Wishing i knew French! LOL i could make out maybe 1/3 of the words, and that is it, in your posts. Ummm....the ones in French!! :;grin::

[Sabertooth]

Oh, Long of Tooth, Sir Saber ... fierce or fearsome? Retreating or rejoining? Paper tiger or saber-toothed?

Ancient adage of the Long of Tooth Smilodons:

Sharpen teeth on bait, young cub, and snares will stop your purr,
Endure the fleeting hunger pangs, beware the claws of her
To whom you give your pelt too easily, like razors are her nails --
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

[2Trievers]

Ancient adage of the mythical Amazon Warrior:

Fearsome, oh Long of Tooth, why the hasty recession?
Slashing wounds can be bound by wraps of amorous attention.
Only true sabertooths enjoin, paper tigers secrete, fail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

[Sabertooth]

Ancient adage of the mythical Amazon Warrior:

I heard they didn't like men too much. Don't think I want to follow their advice.

[MissAmericanPie]

ROFLOL

[2Trievers]

"I heard they didn't like men too much. Don't think I want to follow their advice."

Verily. They also ate their young! **evil smile**

For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. What more can I say?

[pray4liberty]

I feel awful sorry for Mrs. Sabertooth. If she exists. LOL

[~EagleNebula~]

PING!

[Sabertooth]

Hey, I want to thank you for your nice words. Glad you and your spouse had some laughs.

This was a fun thread.

[~EagleNebula~]

Definitely fun!

I referred to it on another thread, after blasting someone. "the female of the species is more deadly than the male". ROFLMBO! They probably were clueless, but to those who hit this thread... ::GRIN::