John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Appendix II. Poems Printed in the Life of WhittierMrs. Choates House-Warming
O
Let the feminine tongues
Talk on—none forbid it.
Our hostess best knew
What her hands found to do,
Asked no questions, but
Which so many folks shirk,
Is so plain all may learn it;
Each brick in this dwelling,
Each timber is telling,
If you want a home,
Is solved by our neighbor,
The old riddle guessed out:
The wisdom sore needed,
The truth long unheeded,
Her flat-iron ’s pressed out!
Let the idle take note
What their fingers were made for;
She, cheerful and jolly,
Worked on late and early,
And bought—what she paid for!
Nor begging, nor whining;
The morning-star twinkles
On no heart that ’s lighter
As she makes the world whiter
And smoothes out its wrinkles.
May her heirs have to wait
Till they ’re gray in attendance;
And her flat-iron press on,
Still teaching its lesson
Of brave independence!