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 | An idyl of work |  |
Esther spoke,
Half to herself, half to the other two:
“Not long ago I read a doleful wail
From some town-dame, that now even factory-girls
Shine with gold watches, and you cannot tell,
Therefore, who are the ladies. Well-a-day!
If one could buy and hang about the neck
The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
'T would make a bawble even of that.”
“But say,
Esther, whom do you call a lady?”
“She,
Dear Isabel, who is so in her mind,—
Harbors no millinery jealousies,
Holds no conventional standards. She may wear
Dainty kid gloves, or wear no gloves at all;
May work at wash-boards or embroidery-frames:
This is her mark,—she lives not for herself.
Our Lord has given us ‘Service’ for a badge.
True ladies, following him, seek not to be
Ministered unto, but to minister.”
Half to herself, half to the other two:
“Not long ago I read a doleful wail
From some town-dame, that now even factory-girls
Shine with gold watches, and you cannot tell,
Therefore, who are the ladies. Well-a-day!
If one could buy and hang about the neck
21
'T would make a bawble even of that.”
“But say,
Esther, whom do you call a lady?”
“She,
Dear Isabel, who is so in her mind,—
Harbors no millinery jealousies,
Holds no conventional standards. She may wear
Dainty kid gloves, or wear no gloves at all;
May work at wash-boards or embroidery-frames:
This is her mark,—she lives not for herself.
Our Lord has given us ‘Service’ for a badge.
True ladies, following him, seek not to be
Ministered unto, but to minister.”
| An idyl of work | |