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 heartsease 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 bravely 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!"

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist and poet best known as the author of the novel 'Little Women' and its sequels 'Little Men' and 'Jo's Boys.' Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, she grew up in Massachusetts. She was an abolitionist and a feminist and was active in both the Transcendentalist and suffragist movements. Alcott began writing to support her family and went on to publish numerous works that have had a lasting impact on American literature.

Louisa May Alcott

Oh My Heart Is Sad And Weary

Louisa May Alcott, Simple Poetry

Fairy Song.

Louisa May Alcott, Simple Poetry

The Downward Road.

Louisa May Alcott, Simple Poetry

Chevalita

Louisa May Alcott, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

The Dolls' Wash.

Sally is the laundress, and every Saturday
She sends our clean clothes up from the wash, and Nurse puts them away.
Sometimes Sally is very kind, but sometimes she's as cross as a Turk;
When she's good-humoured we like to go and watch her at work.
She has tubs and a copper in the wash-house, and a great big fire and plenty of soap;
And outside is the drying-ground with tall posts, and pegs bought from the gipsies, and long lines of rope.
The laundry is indoors with another big fire, and long tables, and a lot of irons, and a crimping-machine;
And horses (not live ones with tails, but clothes-horses) and the same starch that is used by the Queen.
Sally wears pattens in the wash-house, and turns up her sleeves, and splashes, and rubs,
And makes beautiful white lather which foams over the tops of t...

Juliana Horatia Ewing

The Woman at the Washtub

The Woman at the Washtub,
She works till fall of night;
With soap and suds and soda
Her hands are wrinkled white.
Her diamonds are the sparkles
The copper-fire supplies;
Her opals are the bubbles
That from the suds arise.

The Woman at the Washtub
Has lost the charm of youth;
Her hair is rough and homely,
Her figure is uncouth;
Her temper is like thunder,
With no one she agrees,
The children of the alley
They cling around her knees.

The Woman at the Washtub,
She too had her romance;
There was a time when lightly
Her feet flew in the dance.
Her feet were silver swallows,
Her lips were flowers of fire;
Then she was Bright and Early,
The Blossom of Desire.

0 Woman at the Washtub,
And do you ever dream<...

Victor James Daley

An Address To The Steam Washing Company.

"Archer. How many are there, Scrub?"
"Scrub. Five-and-forty, Sir." Beaux' Stratagem.

"For shame - let the linen alone!" M. W. of Windsor.


Mr. Scrub - Mr. Slop - or whoever you be!
The Cock of Steam Laundries, - the head Patentee
Of Associate Cleansers, - Chief founder and prime
Of the firm for the wholesale distilling of grime -
Co-partners and dealers, in linen's propriety -
That make washing public - and wash in society -
O lend me your ear! if that ear can forego,
For a moment, the music that bubbles below, -
From your new Surrey Geisers all foaming and hot, -
That soft "simmer's sang" so endear'd to the Scot -
If your hands may stand still, or your steam without danger -
If your suds will not cool, and a mere simple stra...

Thomas Hood

Washing The Clothes.

This is the way we wash the clo'es
    Free from dirt and smoke and clay!
Through and through the water flows,
    Carries Ugly right away!

This is the way we bleach the clo'es:
    Lay them out upon the green;
Through and through the sunshine goes,
    Makes them white as well as clean!

This is the way we dry the clo'es:
    Hang them on the bushes about;
Through and through the soft wind blows,
    Draws and drives the wetness out!

Water, sun, and windy air
    Make the clothes clean, white, and sweet
Lay them now in lavender
    For the Sunday, folded neat!

George MacDonald

In The Garret

    Four little chests all in a row,
    Dim with dust, and worn by time,
    All fashioned and filled, long ago,
    By children now in their prime.
    Four little keys hung side by side,
    With faded ribbons, brave and gay
    When fastened there, with childish pride,
    Long ago, on a rainy day.
    Four little names, one on each lid,
    Carved out by a boyish hand,
    And underneath there lieth hid
    Histories of the happy band
    Once playing here, and pausing oft
    To hear the sweet refrain,
    That came and went on the roof aloft,
    In the falling summer rain.


    "Meg" on the first lid, smooth and fair.
    I look in with loving eyes,
    For folded here, with well-known care,
    A goodly gathering lies,
 ...

Louisa May Alcott

Little Drops Of Water

    "Little drops of water,
    Little drains of sand,
    Mate a might okum (ocean),
    And a peasant land.
    "Little words of kindness,
    Pokin evvy day,
    Make a home a hebbin,
    And hep us on a way."

Louisa May Alcott