If a Daughter You Have
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
If a daughter you have, she's the plague of your life,
No peace shall you know, tho' you've buried your wife,
At twenty she mocks at the duty you taught her,
O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
Sighing and whining,
Dying and pining,
O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
When scarce in their teens, they have wit to perplex us,
With letters and lovers for ever they vex us,
While each still rejects the fair suitor you've brought her,
O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
Wrangling and jangling,
Flouting and pouting,
what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
“If a Daughter you have” sheds light on one father’s view of having a daughter. Although the poem was written at a time where women were expected to be submissive to men, the poem still shows how raising a daughter could be difficult for a father who wants to control his daughter’s life. There is obviously a big strain in this father-daughter relationship.
