Lines in Pleasant Places :: :: University of Virginia Library

Never was pleasanter scene nor time,
Told in story, or sung in rhyme,
Than the Sewing-circle, that common thing,
Where glad amenities grow and spring
'Neath Charity's light and loving sway,
And the magic of joy is felt alway.

Spirits of good, in concert sweet,
Mingle therein on noiseless feet,
And speak from warm lips rosy-bright,
And smile from eyes of beaming light,
And gleam along the subtle wires
With feeling that the scene inspires.

Ah, grand the circle thus combined,
For usefulness and pleasure joined!
And, gathering from life's passing hours,
A handful of its fragrant flowers,
They feel, the while, the blesséd sense
Of genuine benevolence.

The nimble fingers deftly stray
Over their task in busy way,

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While the glad tongue and brimming heart
Take in the busy scene a part;
But there, beside the active show,
Enacts a scene the angels know.

For unseen fingers dexterous move,
In industry and tender love,
To weave, in texture of the soul,
Those stitches wrought in generous dole,
To form a garb the ones to bless
Who labor in unselfishness.

Thus every thought that's given the poor
Shall the kind thinker's good insure;
For every tear of pity shed,
A gem shall there appear instead;
And every stitch that's woven in love,
A triple bond of grace shall prove.

We all “build better than we know,”
And though things humble seem, and slow,
They may sustain a good immense
In the grand scheme of Providence;
And e'en a simple heart-blest stitch
May be endowed with province rich.