A.R. Allen: Lines to a Daughter--Any Daughter

One of the things that you really should know

Is when to say "yes," and when to say "no."

It's terribly, terribly risky to guess

At when to say "no" and when to say "yes."

Girls who are slaving for Woolworth and Kress

Lament for the day when they might have said "yes,"

Others are crying at night apropros

Of moments when clearly they should have said "no."

Woolworth and Kress were inexpensive stores.

There aren't any textbooks, there aren't any rules,

The subject's neglected in orthodox schools.

Experience helps, but you seldom remember

Your April mistakes by the first of November.

You can't be consistent; there's often a reason

For changing your mind with a change in the season.

You may be quite right in accepting at seven

Suggestions you'd better refuse at eleven.

Perhaps you'll consider these tentative hints:

"No" to a dirndl of highly glazed chintz,

"Yes" to the bashful young man at the dance,

"No" to the man who's been living in France,

"Yes" to a walk in the park in the rain,

"Yes" if he asks for a chance to explain,

"No" to all slacks unless you're too thin,

"No" to that impulse to telephone him,

"Yes" to a baby, and "no" to a bore,

"No" if you're asked if you've heard it before,

"Yes" to the friend when she says, "Don't you think

  Rabbit is just as becoming as mink?"

"Yes" to a Saturday, "no" to a Monday,

"Yes" to a salad and "no" to a sundae,

"No" to a wastrel and "yes" to a ranger,

"No" to a toady, and "yes" to a stranger

(That is providing you use some discretion),

"No" to three cocktails in rapid succession,

"No" to magenta and chocolate brown,

"Yes" to a whisper and "no" to a frown,

"No" if he's misunderstood by his wife,

"Yes" if you want it the rest of your life.

Remember, my darling, careers and caresses

Depend on your choices of "noes" and of "yesses."

From Harper's Magazine, February, 1947.