The following poem is a description of a noble woman of which the world is in great need in this present hour. As I contemplate raising six daughters, I see the need to raise women who can be lovers of their husbands, lovers of their children, keepers of the home, and disciple-makers of other young women. These type of women don’t come from a standard American education, but rather they are daily molded by the loving wisdom of a mother and father who have an eternal vision. They are taught their noble calling from a young age, and understand their noble identity in Christ. They make noble plans and carry out noble deeds as young women to produce fruit that will stand the test of eternity.

Raising daughters to be noble women will take fathers who have invested the eternal Word of God into the eternal hearts of their daughters so that their trust may be in the Lord. These are fathers who will write and speak excellent things in counsels and knowledge that they might help their daughters know the certainty of the words of truth. (See Proverbs 22:19-21)

The Need of the Hour

What does the country need? Not armies standing

With sabers gleaming ready for the fight;

Not increased navies, skillful and commanding,

To bound the waters with an iron might;

Not haughty men with glutted purses trying

To purchase souls, and keep the power of place;

Not jeweled dolls with one another vying

For palms of beauty, elegance, and grace.

But we want women, strong of soul, yet lowly

With that rare meekness, born of gentleness;

Women whose lives are pure and clean and holy,

The women whom all little children bless;

Brave, earnest women, helpful to each other,

With finest scorn for all things low and mean;

Women who hold the names of wife and mother

Far nobler than the title of a queen.

Oh! These are they who mould the men of story,

These mothers, ofttime shorn of grace and youth,

Who, worn and weary, ask no greater glory

Than making some young soul the home of truth;

Who sow in hearts all fallow for the sowing

The seeds of virtue and of scorn for sin,

And, patient, watch the beauteous harvest growing

And weed out tares which crafty hands cast in.

Women who do not hold the gift of beauty

As some rare treasure to be bought ad sold,

But guard it as a precious aid to duty—

The outer framing of the inner gold;

Women who, low above their cradles bending,

Let flattery’s voice go by, and give no heed,

While their pure prayers like incense are ascending

These are our country’s pride, our country’s need.

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

This poem is found in the book “Verses of Virtue” compiled and edited by Elizabeth Beall Phillips from Vision Forum.

Posted by Chris Hogan on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 04:48 AM