She raised her head. With hot and glittering eye, 'I know,' she said, 'that I am going to die. Come here, my daughter, while my mind is clear. Let me make plain to you your duty here; My duty once - I never failed to try - But for some reason I am going to die.' She raised her head, and, while her eyes rolled wild, Poured these instructions on the gasping child: 'Begin at once - don't iron sitting down - Wash you potatoes when the fat is brown - Monday, unless it rains - it always pays To get fall sewing done on the right days - A carpet-sweeper and a little broom - Save dishes - wash the summer dining-room With soda - keep the children out of doors - The starch is out - beeswax on all the floors - If girls are treated like your friends they stay - They stay, and treat you like their friends - the way To make a home happy is to keep a jar - And save the prettiest pieces for the star In the middle - blue's too dark - all silk is best - And don't forget the corners - when they're dressed Put them on ice - and always wash the chest Three times a day, the windows every week - We need more flour - the bedroom ceilings leak - It's better than onion - keep the boys at home - Gardening is good - a load, three loads of loam - They bloom in spring - and smile, smile always, dear - Be brave, keep on - I hope I've made it clear.' She died, as all her mothers died before. Her daughter died in turn, and made one more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EILEEN AROON by GERALD JOSEPH GRIFFIN SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT [1583] by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW REUBEN BRIGHT by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE MARSEILLAISE by CLAUDE JOSEPH ROUGET DE LISLE SONNET: 128 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE SONG OF THE SPANISH JEWS by GRACE AGUILAR |