Explore "Division of Property" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Some sailors were starving at sea / On a raft where they happened to be, / When one of the crew / Who was hidden from view / Was found to be feasting most free.
Then they cursed him in language profane, / Because there on the pitiless main / While the others did starve, / He could ladle and carve, / Eating food which they could not obtain.
"But," said he, "tis my own little store! / To feed all of you would take more! / If I shared, 'twould be found / That it would not go round; / And you all would starve on as before!
"It would only prolong your distress / To distribute this one little mess! / The supply is so small / I had best eat it all, / For me it will comfort and bless!"
This reasoning sounded most fair, / But the men had large appetites there, / And while he explained / They ate all that remained, / Forgetting to leave out his share!