What Have You Done? by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I. WHAT have you done, and what are you doing with life, O Man! / O Average Man of the world- / Average Man of the Christian world we call civilised? / What have you done to pay for the labour pains of the mother who bore / you? / On earth you occupy space; you consume oxygen from the air: / And what do you give in return for these things? / Who is better that you live, and strive, and toil? / Or that you live through the toiling and striving of others? / As you pass down the street does any one look on you and say, / ‘There goes a good son, a true husband, a wise father, a fine citizen? / A man whose strong hand is ready to help a neighbour, / A man to trust'? And what do women say of you? / Unto their own souls what do women say? / Do they say: ‘He helped to make the road easier for tired feet? / To broaden the narrow horizon for aching eyes? / He helped us to higher ideals of womanhood'? / Look into your own heart and answer, O Average Man of the world, / Of the Christian world we call civilised.

II. What do men think of you, what do they think and say of you, / O Average Woman of the world? / Do they say: ‘There is a woman with a great heart, / Loyal to her sex, and above envy and evil speaking? / There is a daughter, wife, mother, with a purpose in life: / She can be trusted to mould the minds of little children. / She knows how to be good without being dull; / How to be glad and to make others glad without descending to folly; / She is one who illuminates the path wherein she walks; / One who awakens the best in every human being she meets'? / Look into your heart, O Woman! and answer this: / What are you doing with the beautiful years? / Is your to-day a better thing than was your yesterday? / Have you grown in knowledge, grace, and usefulness? / Or are you ravelling out the wonderful fabric knit by Time, / And throwing away the threads? / Make answer, O Woman! Average Woman of the Christian world.