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 | An idyl of work |  |
Under the open window where they stood
A river ran; green farm-lands lay beyond,
And forests, dark against the dreamy hills:
A river less romantic than the Rhine,
Yet fringed with its unwritten histories,—
New England's beautiful blue Merrimack.
And they were idle as queens' ladies now,—
Three girls in their work-aprons, gazing out
Upon the swirling freshet; for the stream
Had risen to a flood, and made the factory-wheels
Drag slow, and slower, till they almost stopped.
The spindle scarcely turned, the thread ran slack,
And lazily the shuttle crossed the web.
Slight watching their work needed; so they stood
And gave free voice to thoughts and fantasies
That groaning shaft and ceaseless clattering loom
Were wont to clamor down.
The room was dim
With April's rainy light, that here and there
Came in through greenery of geranium leaves
Grown lush and fragrant to the window-tops,
Bringing a hint of gardens and thick woods.
The light leaf-shadowings stole tenderly
Over those three girl-figures in their nook,—
Esther, and Eleanor, and Isabel.
A river ran; green farm-lands lay beyond,
And forests, dark against the dreamy hills:
12
Yet fringed with its unwritten histories,—
New England's beautiful blue Merrimack.
And they were idle as queens' ladies now,—
Three girls in their work-aprons, gazing out
Upon the swirling freshet; for the stream
Had risen to a flood, and made the factory-wheels
Drag slow, and slower, till they almost stopped.
The spindle scarcely turned, the thread ran slack,
And lazily the shuttle crossed the web.
Slight watching their work needed; so they stood
And gave free voice to thoughts and fantasies
That groaning shaft and ceaseless clattering loom
Were wont to clamor down.
The room was dim
With April's rainy light, that here and there
Came in through greenery of geranium leaves
Grown lush and fragrant to the window-tops,
Bringing a hint of gardens and thick woods.
The light leaf-shadowings stole tenderly
Over those three girl-figures in their nook,—
Esther, and Eleanor, and Isabel.
| An idyl of work | |