"Fourteenth Birthday" by Phyllis McGinley?

Question

The poem is Fourteenth Birthday

The Enemy, who wears
Her mother's usual face
And confidential tone,
Has acess; doubtless stares
Into her writing case
And listens on the phone.

Her fortress crumbles. Spies
Who call themselves her betters
Harry her night and day.
Herself's the single prize.
Likely they read her letters
And bear the tale away,

Or eavesdrop on her sleep
(Uncountered and unchidden)
To learn her dreams by heart.
There is no lock will keep
A secret rightly hidden
From their subversive art.

But till the end is sure,
Till on some open plain
They bring her to her knees,
She'll face them down - endure
In silence and disdain
Love's utmost treacheries.

In this poem, what does the poet mean by "Love's Utmost Treacheries"? What are the examples of these treacheries in the poem?

Thank you

Answer 1

Utmost treacheries: extreme little tricks of love that she has to "endure/In silence and disdain."
-Of course these are "Spies/Who call themselves her betters"


Examples:
1.eavesdropping on her sleep. . . "To learn her dreams by heart"
2. they also read her letters "And bear the tale away."

Answer 2

Phyllis Mcginley Poems