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“A Common Inference” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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A Common Inference

A night: mysterious, tender, quiet, deep;
Heavy with flowers; full of life asleep;
Thrilling with insect voices; thick with stars;
No cloud between the dewdrops and red Mars;
The small earth whirling softly on her way,
The moonbeams and the waterfalls at play;
A million million worlds that move in peace,
A million mighty laws that never cease;
And one small ant-heap, hidden by small weeds,
Rich with eggs, slaves, and store of millet seeds.
        They sleep beneath the sod
             And trust in God.

A day: all glorious, royal, blazing bright;
Heavy with flowers; full of life and light;
Great fields of corn and sunshine; courteous trees;
Snow-sainted mountains; earth-embracing seas;
Wide golden deserts; slender silver streams;
Clear rainbows where the tossing fountain gleams;
And everywhere, in happiness and peace,
A million forms of life that never cease;
And one small ant-heap, crushed by passing tread,
Hath scarce enough alive to mourn the dead!
        They shriek beneath the sod,
            “There is no God!”

—Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I hope you enjoyed this poem, A Common Inference! You might also like an article on The Yellow Wallpaper Characters and The Yellow Wallpaper Summary. Or, see more work by Sara Barkat.

< Return to Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems

The Classic by Charlotte Perkins Gilman—Now a Graphic Novel!

The Yellow Wall-Paper Graphic Novel summary cropped cover by charlotte perkins gilman who wrote a common inference

“How I wish this illustrated version was given to me back [when I first read this story]! The level of detail in the illustrations helped me ‘feel’ the story. They are beautiful, haunting, disturbing, and yet not over interpreting the work. Do a young (or old) English student a favor and get this illustrated version of Gilman’s classic early feminist story The Yellow Wallpaper.”

—Lynn Silvera, Amazon reviewer

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