{"id":18404,"date":"2020-04-29T16:42:17","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T20:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=18404"},"modified":"2020-04-29T16:43:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T20:43:48","slug":"daffodil-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/daffodil-tribute\/","title":{"rendered":"Daffodil Tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Splash of Color<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"daffodils-bar\"<\/p>\n

Mainers are celebrating 100 years of women\u2019s voting rights<\/strong> by planting daffodils guaranteed to transform the spring. \u201cThe Maine suffragists used the daffodil, or jonquil, as their flower symbol,\u201d says Anne Gass<\/strong>, author of Voting Down the Rose: Florence Brooks Whitehouse and Maine\u2019s Fight for Woman Suffrage<\/em>. \u201cAt hearings on suffrage in the Maine legislature, you knew which side people were on if they sported a rose or a jonquil.\u201d Share photos of your blooming beds on Instagram: @mainesuffragecentennial<\/strong>, #unitedwebloom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"portmag-daffodi2l\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1915, Maine suffragists (again) petitioned for a statewide referendum and were (again) denied,\u201d Gass says. \u201cIn March of that year, an anti-suffrage poem [signed \u201cB\u201d] was sent to local newspapers. My great-grandmother, Florence Brooks Whitehouse, wrote a poem in response, and the amusing exchange was printed in a Portland newspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jonquil and the Rose
\n<\/i><\/b><\/h5>\n

They tell a tale of suffrage,
\n<\/span>In the good old state of Maine
\n<\/span>That is full of lively interest\"daffodil-1\"
\n<\/span>And proves the men still sane.
\n<\/span>They tell that at the \u201cHearing,\u201d
\n<\/span>And sometimes since the close,
\n<\/span>They have worn the lady\u2019s jonquil,
\n<\/span>But\u2014they\u2019ve voted for the Rose.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say that men are foolish,
\n\u201cThe Creator made them so
\n<\/span>To match up with the women\u201d;
\n<\/span>But we doubt if it is true!
\n<\/span>You see, while smiling blandly
\n<\/span>And politely keeping pose,
\n<\/span>They\u2019ve been buttonholed with jonquils
\n<\/span>But\u2014they\u2019ve voted for the Rose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most men are fond of flowers
\nBut in preference draw no line,
\n<\/span>To them the jonquil\u2019s \u201cbeautiful,\u201d
\n<\/span>And the red, red rose is fine.
\n<\/span>And so it can\u2019t be prejudice
\n<\/span>But conviction\u2014made them choose.
\n<\/span>They\u2019ve worn the lady\u2019s jonquil,
\n<\/span>But\u2014they\u2019ve voted for the Rose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those ladies who have spent much time
\nAround the statehouse dome,
\n<\/span>Must now feel somewhat weary,
\n<\/span>And may rest awhile at home.
\n<\/span>Poor statesmen, nagged and badgered!
\n<\/span>You have earned a long repose.
\n<\/span>You have worn the lady\u2019s jonquil,
\n<\/span>But\u2014you\u2019ve voted for the Rose.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Jonquil and the Rose (A Reply)
\n<\/i><\/b><\/h5>\n

We have noticed in your columns
\n<\/span>A most elucidating rhyme
\n<\/span>Which must have kept the perpetrator
\n<\/span>Working overtime.
\n<\/span>It tells how at the Hearing
\n<\/span>Which has just come to a close,
\n<\/span>The \u201cvoters wore the Jonquil
\n<\/span>While they voted for the Rose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is pretty propaganda
\nAnd though it isn\u2019t true to facts,
\n<\/span>It shows the Anti-spirit
\n<\/span>Embodied in their \u201ctracts.\u201d\"daffodil-3\"
\n<\/span>To score a point against us
\n<\/span>For applause of fickle hands,
\n<\/span>They stoop to write their arguments
\n<\/span>On running, shifting sands.<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth about the question
\nIs really quite immense
\n<\/span>For only nine and fifty
\n<\/span>Voters proved their lack of sense
\n<\/span>By voting down the suffrage
\n<\/span>And 88 men chose
\n<\/span>To wear the Suffrage Jonquil
\n<\/span>While voting DOWN the Rose.<\/span><\/p>\n

In all we had a surplus
\nOf fifty votes to spare
\n<\/span>If we count the House and Senate
\n<\/span>And our friends who stood firm there.
\n<\/span>And while the Antis seem so joyous
\n<\/span>That hadn\u2019t two to one
\n<\/span>They can\u2019t escape the knowledge
\n<\/span>That we won at fifty-one.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are proud to cede the Antis
\nThat nine disloyal \u201creps\u201d
\n<\/span>Who renounced their party pledges
\n<\/span>To aid the Suffragettes
\n<\/span>And the Democrats, from the cities,
\n<\/span>Which stand for rum and booze,
\n<\/span>We also state, quite frankly,
\n<\/span>We are honored, them to lose.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Senate six and twenty
\nAnd the House four score and eight,
\n<\/span>We had a big majority
\n<\/span>From those who legislate.
\n<\/span>And in 1916 surely,
\n<\/span>We will bring the war to close,
\n<\/span>With the whole House wearing Jonquils
\n<\/span>While Voting DOWN the Rose.<\/span><\/p>\n

See more at\u00a0mainesuffragecentennial.org.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story behind the daffodil tribute blooming across Maine in honor of the Maine suffrage centennial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[973,974],"class_list":["post-18404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-extras","tag-daffodil-tribute","tag-maine-suffrage-centennial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18404"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18415,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18404\/revisions\/18415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}