Which Has More Patience -- Man or Woman?

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    As my letter must be brief, 
   I'll at once state my belief,
   And this it is - that, since the world began,
   And Adam first did say,
   "'Twas Eve led me astray,"
   A woman hath more patience than a man. 
   If a man's obliged to wait
   For some one who's rather late,
   No mortal ever got in such a stew,
  And if something can't be found
  That he's sure should be around,
  The listening air sometimes grows fairly blue.

  Just watch a man who tries
  To soothe a baby's cries;
  Or put a stove pipe up in weather cold,
  Into what a state he'll get;
  How he'll fuss and fume and fret
  And stamp and bluster round and storm and scold!

  Some point to Job with pride,
  As an argument for their side!
  Why, it was so rare a patient man to see,
  That when one was really found,
  His discoverers were bound
  To preserve for him a place in history!

  And while I admit it's true
  That man has some patience too,
  And that woman isn't always sweetly calm,
  Still I think all must agree
  On this central fact - that she
  For central all-round patience bears the palm.

© Lucy Maud Montgomery