Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968). rn The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915.

Sisters of the Cross of Shame

Dana Burnet

(American poet, born 1888)

THE SISTERS of the Cross of Shame,

They smile along the night;

Their houses stand with shuttered souls

And painted eyes of light.

Their houses look with scarlet eyes

Upon a world of sin;

And every man cries, “Woe, alas!”

And every man goes in.

The sober Senate meets at noon,

To pass the Woman’s Law,

The portly Churchmen vote to stem

The torrent with a straw.

The Sister of the Cross of Shame,

She smiles beneath her cloud—

(She does not laugh till ten o’clock,

And then she laughs too loud.)

And still she hears the throb of feet

Upon the scarlet stair,

And still she dons the cloak of shame

That is not hers to wear.

The sons of saintly women come

To kiss the Cross of Shame;

Before them, in another time,

Their worthy fathers came.…

And no man tells his son the truth,

Lest he should speak of sin;

And every man cries, “Woe, alas!”

And every man goes in.