Royal Matron

Famous quotes containing the words royal and/or matron:

    Because humans are not alone in exhibiting such behavior—bees stockpile royal jelly, birds feather their nests, mice shred paper—it’s possible that a pregnant woman who scrubs her house from floor to ceiling [just before her baby is born] is responding to a biological imperative . . . . Of course there are those who believe that . . . the burst of energy that propels a pregnant woman to clean her house is a perfectly natural response to their mother’s impending visit.
    Mary Arrigo (20th century)

    Ye gentle souls, who dream of rural ease,
    Whom the smooth stream and smoother sonnet please;
    Go! if the peaceful cot your praises share,
    Go, look within, and ask if peace be there:
    If peace be his—that drooping weary sire,
    Of theirs, that offspring round their feeble fire,
    Or hers, that matron pale, whose trembling hand
    Turns on the wretched hearth th’ expiring brand.
    George Crabbe (1754–1832)