[NEW ORLEANS] DAILY PICAYUNE, January 3, 1864, p. 2, c. 3
A Young Lady's Soliloquy.
Uselessly, aimlessly drifting through life,
What was I born for? "For Somebody's wife,"
I am told by my mother. Well, that being true,
"Somebody" keeps himself strangely from view:
And if naught but marriage will settle my fate,
I believe I shall die in an unsettled state.
For, though I'm not ugly—pray, what woman is?—
You might easily find a more beautiful phiz;
And then, as for temper and manners, 'tis plain
He who seeks for perfection will seek here in vain.
Nay, in spite of these drawbacks, my heart is perverse,
And I should not feel grateful "for better or worse,"
To take the first booby that graciously came
And offered those treasures, his home and his name.
I think, then, my chances of marriage are small,
But why should I think of such chances at all?
My brothers are all of them younger than I,
Yet they thrive in the world—why not let me try?
I know that in business I'm not an adept,
Because from such matters most strictly I'm kept,
Why am I not trained up to work of some kind?
Uselessly, aimlessly drifting through life,
Why should I wait to be "Somebody's wife?"
Source: Vicki Betts’ Newspaper Research: New Orleans Daily Picayune, January 3, 1864–March 7, 1865.