THE WASHERWOMAN'S ODE.

New Zealand Graphic, 20 December 1894, Page 27

THE WASHERWOMAN'S ODE.

What awful power is oft possessed By her who turns the mangle ! The power to make us blithe and gay, Or all our hopes to strangle ! To her who makes a man a man. Or can hie joys corrode, In fear I humbly dedicate This washerwoman’s ode! -See yonder youth slink down the street— The cause ? His collar’s crumpled ; •He pulls his coat around him, for His shirt is wrecked and rumpled. The iron mould has left its mark— The washerwoman’s good— Yes ! terror would appease her with A sweet and soothing ode ! And gratitude as well demands Poetical expression, For linen makes or mars a man, And wisdom and discretion Suggest ’tie well to flatter her In quite a slavish mode, For pause and just remember what The washerwoman’s owed !