Which Has More Patience -- Man or Woman?

Image by Mabel Amber from Pixabay

As my letter must be brief,

I'll at once state my belief,

And this it is -- that, since the world began,

And Adam first did say,

"'Twas Eve led me astray,"

A woman hath more patience than a man.

If a man's obliged to wait

For some one who's rather late,

No mortal ever got in such a stew,

And if something can't be found

That he's sure should be around,

The listening air sometimes grows fairly blue.

Just watch a man who tries

To soothe a baby's cries;

Or put a stove pipe up in weather cold,

Into what a state he'll get;

How he'll fuss and fume and fret

And stamp and bluster round and storm and scold!

Some point to Job with pride,

As an argument for their side!

Why, it was so rare a patient man to see,

That when one was really found,

His discoverers were bound

To preserve for him a place in history!

And while I admit it's true

That man has some patience too,

And that woman isn't always sweetly calm,

Still I think all must agree

On this central fact -- that she

For central all-round patience bears the palm.

~  Lucy Maud Montgomery