MRS. WILLIAMS

I was the milliner*
Talked about, lied about,
Mother of Dora,
Whose strange disappearance
Was charged to her rearing.
My eye quick to beauty
Saw much beside ribbons
And buckles and feathers
And leghorns and felts,
To set off sweet faces,
And dark hair and gold.
One thing I will tell you
And one I will ask:
The stealers of husbands
Wear powder and trinkets,
And fashionable hats.
Wives, wear them yourselves.
Hats may make divorces--
They also prevent them.
Well now, let me ask you:
If all of the children, born here in Spoon River
Had been reared by the County, somewhere on a farm;
And the fathers and mothers had been given their freedom
To live and enjoy, change mates if they wished,
Do you think that Spoon River
Had been any the worse?

*Main Entry: mil·li·ner
Pronunciation: 'mi-l&-n&r
Function: noun
Etymology: irregular from Milan, Italy; from the importation of women's finery from Italy in the 16th century
Date: 1530
: a person who designs, makes, trims, or sells women's hats