Mary continued to write, too, and experienced the thrill of seeing what was probably her first published poem in the December 23, 1840 issue of Hill’s New Hampshire Patriot. Its saucy tone and lilting rhymes hint at the 19-year-old’s sunny disposition: Excerpt from When I Was a Wee Little Slip of a Girl When I was a wee little slip of a girl, Too artless and young for a prude; The men as I passed would exclaim “pretty dear,” Which I must say I thought rather rude; Rather rude, so I did; Which, I must say, I thought rather rude.