The Brave Little Wife - A poem by John E. Everett

The Brave Little Wife.

There once was a man with a body quite good
Who might have worked well if only he would,
But the point was just this, that he wouldn't.
His wife was much grieved to see the man shirk,
And deeply she wished she could get him to
work,
But the point was just this, that she couldn't.

But 'tis not of the man that I purpose to speak,
Although of true worth he had quite a streak,
If indeed one could only unearth it.
His good little wife is the one I applaud;
She's the one that this story shall honor and laud:
For she is the one that was worth it.

She sewed and she washed and she kept up her
cheer;
Her will and her work kept the family in gear,
While her husband studied the weather.
She acted as keeper and mainstay of all,
And without her their fortunes had suffered a
fall:
For she held the household together.

Now suppose I should tell you this woman is
near,
That she labors and plods not a great way from
here,
Do you think you would quickly believe it ?
The fact is, she's plodding and picking her way
In a thousand, yes, ten thousand, places today;
Though indeed, it is sad to conceive it.

I sing the renown of this brave little wife;
I honor the spirit that governs her life;
But that man^___a sound threshing might cure
him.
Yet if you should try it the wife might object,
And bravely defend him with all his defect;^___
So, perhaps, we shall have to endure him.

^__John E. Everett.