The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (poem)

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"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" as published in Loomis' Musical And Masonic Journal (1898) The Hand that Rocks the Cradle.jpg
"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" as published in Loomis' Musical And Masonic Journal (1898)

"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World" is a poem by William Ross Wallace that praises motherhood as the preeminent force for change in the world. The poem was first published in 1865 under the title "What Rules the World". [1] [2] Although the poem itself is now largely forgotten, the poem's refrain became a commonly quoted proverb. [2] [3] [4]

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References

  1. Magill, Frank Northen; Tench Francis Tilghman (1965). Magill's Quotations in Context. Harper & Row.
  2. 1 2 Manser, Martin H. (2007). The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs (2nd ed.). Facts On File. p. 114. ISBN   0816066736.
  3. Dickenson, Mary Lowe (1904). "Higher Education and Motherhood". The Phrenological Journal. 117 (4): 151. No saying is more quoted than: 'The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.'
  4. Gardner, Martin, ed. (1995). Famous Poems from Bygone Days. Dover Publications. p. 153. ISBN   0486286231.