C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

A Song from the Suds

QUEEN of my tub, I merrily sing,

While the white foam rises high;

And sturdily wash, and rinse, and wring,

And fasten the clothes to dry;

Then out in the free fresh air they swing,

Under the sunny sky.

I wish we could wash from our hearts and souls

The stains of the week away,

And let water and air by their magic make

Ourselves as pure as they;

Then on the earth there would be indeed

A glorious washing-day!

Along the path of a useful life,

Will heart’s-ease ever bloom;

The busy mind has no time to think

Of sorrow, or care, or gloom;

And anxious thoughts may be swept away,

As we busily wield a broom.

I am glad a task to me is given,

To labor at day by day;

For it brings me health, and strength, and hope,

And I cheerfully learn to say,—

“Head you may think, Heart you may feel,

But Hand you shall work alway!”