Turnabout

Puzzles Archives - Futility Closet · Oct 29, 2026

An “enigma in praise of women,” from an 1820 miscellany:

Happy that man may pass his life,

Who’s free from matrimonial chains;

Who is directed by a wife,

Is sure to suffer for his pains.

What tongue is able to unfold

The falsehood which in women dwell?

The worth in women you behold

Is almost imperceptible.

Adam could find no solid peace

When Eve was given him for a mate;

Till he beheld a woman’s face,

Adam was in a happy state.

See, in the female race appear

Hypocrisy, deceit, and pride;

Truth, darling of a heart sincere,

In women never can reside.

They’re always…