WHAT has become of the maidens fair, who pleased the eyes of the old-time swells, who made the dresses they used to wear, and looked as smooth as the modern belles? They made their gowns and they made their hose, they made their hats with a right good will; they made their quilts and such things as those, they sewed and darned with the darnedest skill. They made good bread and they made good pies, they made good jam and they made good tarts; their doughnuts gladdened our weary eyes, and put new vim in our jaded hearts. They took blue ribbons at county fairs, for fragrant butter in golden rolls; a noble pride in their skill was theirs—but now they're vanished, God rest their souls. They're past and gone to the brighter spheres, and no successors they left below; about one time in a hundred years you'll see a girl who can cook and sew. I like eggs soft and I get them hard, I like tea strong and I get it weak, the toast is burned and the steak is charred, and tears are glimmering on my cheek. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A POISON TREE, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE ODES I, 9. TO WINTER by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS STELLA'S BIRTHDAY, 1720 by JONATHAN SWIFT SIR LANCELOT AND QUEEN GUINEVERE by ALFRED TENNYSON DIXIT, ET IN MENSAM by CHARLES WILLIAM SHIRLEY BROOKS THE GALLANT WEAVER by ROBERT BURNS |