Anonymous ('A Female Hand') - To My Niece, A.M

[highlyeccentric]

To my Niece, A.M. With a new Pair of Shoes on her first going alone. Written Dec. 22, 1774

When little girls begin to walk,
Their next attempt should be to talk.
Then why thus, Nancy, why thus long
Do you persist to hold your tongue?
Full sixteen months gone o'er your head,
And not a word by you been said!
Oh! let it never once be told
That silence reigned in a girl so old!
But let us hear, by Christmas day,
Your speech at last hath found its way:
In lisping accents sweetly prattle
Of fine new shoes, of doll, and rattle,
And prove to all your friends around
Your sex's province you have found.