Social Commentaries
To a Scotch Girl washing Linen
From The Comic Poems of Thomas Hood
Well done and wetly, thou Fair Maid of Perth,
Thou mak'st a washing picture well deserving
The pen and pencilling of Washington Irving:
Like dripping Naiad, pearly from her birth,
Dashing about the water of the Firth,
To cleanse the calico of Mrs. Skirving,
And never from thy dance of duty swerving
As there were nothing else than dirt on earth!
Yet what is thy reward? Nay, do not start!
I do not mean to give thee a new damper,
But while thou fillest this industrious part
Of washer, wearer, mangler, presser, stamper,
Deserving better character--thou art
What Bodkin would but call--"a common tramper."
Cite this poem
MLA
Hood, Thomas. “To a Scotch Girl washing Linen.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/hood/122/.
Chicago
Hood, Thomas. “To a Scotch Girl washing Linen.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/hood/122/.
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