OCR Text |
Show WASHERWOMAN TO A POET. Mrs. Kate Choate, In Honor of Whcte Housewarining Wuittier Wrote Verse. Surely few honsewarruings and a housewarming is one of the most memorable mem-orable and significant of domestlo celebrations cele-brations aro likely to be remembered with more satisfaction and pride than that whioh attended the first occupancy of the dwelling of Mrs. Kate Choate of Ames bury. She was the poet Whittier's washerwoman, washer-woman, and when by persistent industry indus-try she had earned a borne for herself I and her family he was one of j the foremost fore-most among the neighbors and friends who organized the festivities and heightened height-ened the delight of their hostess by leaving leav-ing substantial tokens of their regard, inoluding a complete set of furniture for the new parlor. Mr. Whittier was present among the guests and made the speech of congratulation, congrat-ulation, concluding it with the recitation recita-tion of a poem which he modestly da-scribed da-scribed as a piece of machine poetry intrusted in-trusted to him for the occasion. It was his own, of course, and it is given in full in his "Life and Letters, " recently published. Tho last three verses are aa follows: Thanks, then, to Kate Choate I Let the idle tako note What their fingers were made for. She, cheerful and jolly, Worked on lato and early And bought what she paid for. Never vainly repining Nor begging nor whining. The morning star twinkles On no heart that's lighter As she makes tho world whiter And smooths out its wrinklea. Bo long life to Kate! May her heirs have to wait Till they're gray in attendance. And the flatiron press on. Still teaching its lesson Of brave independence. Mr. Whittier's early poems accorded, in "Songs of Labor," due poetio hon ors to the professions of drover, shoemaker, shoe-maker, shipbuilder, farmer and fisherman. fisher-man. It is pleasant to find him also gracefully recognizing the worth of a profession no less useful and honorable, but less often honored. "Long life to Kate," too, he ha3 doubtless secured, in transferring her flatiron and all from the steamy realm of the kitchen to the more romantic atmosphere of verae. Chicago Times. |