Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinleywas a Pulitzer Prizewinning American author of children's books and poetry. Her poetry was in the style of light verse, specializing in humor, satiric tone and the positive aspects of suburban life...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth21 March 1905
CountryUnited States of America
austen becomes beyond college education exactly exist girl graduates jane lore meant mind noble proficient saint studies system theresa treated truly until utopia vast
The system -- the American one, at least -- is a vast and noble experiment. It has been polestar and exemplar for other nations. But from kindergarten until she graduates from college the girl is treated in it exactly like her brothers. She studies the same subjects, becomes proficient at the same sports. Oh, it is a magnificent lore she learns, education for the mind beyond anything Jane Austen or Saint Theresa or even Mrs. Pankhurst ever dreamed. It is truly Utopian. But Utopia was never meant to exist on this disheveled planet.
lying sleep forever
Ah, snug lie those that slumber Beneath Conviction's roof. Their floors are sturdy lumber, Their windows weatherproof. But I sleep cold forever And cold sleep all my kind, For I was born to shiver In the draft from an open mind.
jobs ungrateful world
To be a housewife is a difficult, a wrenching, sometimes an ungrateful job if it is looked on only as a job. Regarded as a profession, it is the noblest as it is the most ancient of the catalogue. Let none persuade us differently or the world is lost indeed.
angry bones breaks hard silence sticks sting stones words
Sticks and stones are hard on bones aimed with angry art. Words can sting like anything but silence breaks the heart.
begins ends gossip nursery scientist speech tool
Gossip is the tool of the poet, the shoptalk of the scientist and the consolation of the housewife, wit, tycoon and intellectual. It begins in the nursery and ends when speech is past.
track joy catholic
I have read that during the process of canonization the Catholic Church demands proof of joy in the candidate, and although I have not been able to track down chapter and verse I like the suggestion that dourness is not a sacred attribute.
lying reality stories
Behind every myth lies a truth; beyond every legend is reality, as radiant (sometimes as chilling) as the story itself.
alive wormwood seventies
Seventy is wormwood, Seventy is gall But its better to be seventy, Than not alive at all.
shapes satisfaction neighbor
Happiness puts on as many shapes as discontent, and there is nothing odder than the satisfaction of one's neighbor.
live-life men quiet
The mass of men live lives of quiet exasperation.
long phrases enough
Love or perish" we are told and we tell ourselves. The phrase is true enough so long as we do not interpret it as "Mingle or be a failure.
reading australia-day pastime
In Australia, not reading poetry is the national pastime.
sick people immature
People are no longer sinful, they are only immature or underprivileged or frightened or, more particularly, sick.
dream ambition people
The saints differ from us in their exuberance, the excess of our human talents. Moderation is not their secret. It is in the wildness of their dreams, the desperate vitality of their ambitions, that they stand apart from ordinary people of good will.