Thread and Song

Sweeter and sweeter,
Soft and low,
Neat little nymph,
Thy numbers flow,
Urging thy thimble,
Thrift's tidy symbol,
Busy and nimble,
To and fro;
Prettily plying
Thread and song,
Keeping them flying
Late and long,
Though the stitch linger,
Kissing thy finger,
Quick,--as it skips along.

Many an echo,
Soft and low,
Follows thy flying
Fancy so,
Melodies thrilling,
Tenderly filling
Thee with their trilling,
Come and go;
Memory's finger,
Quick as thine,
Loving to linger
On the line,
Writes of another,
Dearer than brother:
Would that the name were mine!