POETRY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2378, 16 November 1881, Page 3

POETRY.

THE DIFFERENCE. The good wife rose from her bed one morn, And though with a nervous dread Of the pile of clothes to be washed, and more Than a dozen mouths to feed. Of the meals to get for the man in the field, And the children to fix away ; Those weary cows, and the cream to chum— And all to be done in a day. It had rained through the night, and all the wood Was as wet as wood could be ; She had moat, and pudding and bread to bake, Aud a loaf of cake for tea; And the day was hot, and her aching head Throbbed wearily as she said : “If girls but knew what good wives know, They would be in no haste to wed.” “Jennie, what do you think I told Bob Brown f " Called her husband from the door As be entered the house at dinner time, And his shadow fell on the floor. “It was this,” he said, and coming near, He laughed, and stooping down, Kissed her cheek— “ 'Twas this that you were the best And the dearest wife in town.” The farmer went back to the field, and the wife In a happy and absent way, Sang snatches of tender, old-fashioned songs, Not sung for many a day. And the pain in her head was gone, and the clothes Were as white as the foam of the sea ; Her bread it was light and her butter sweet, And as golden as butter could be. “Mother!” the children all cried in a breath, “Tom Woods ran away to sea; Poor Tom —ho often wished that he had As happy a home as we.” So the night came down and the good wife smiled To herself as she softly said : “ 'Tie so sweet to labor for those we love, It’s no wonder that young girls wed,”