On Mistress Nicely, a Pattern for Housekeepers by Thomas Hood
She was a woman peerless in her station, With household virtues wedded to her name; Spotless in linen, grass-bleached in her fame; And pure and clear-starched in her conversation; Thence in my Castle of Imagination She dwells for evermore, the dainty dame, To keep all airy draperies from shame And all dream furnitures in preservation:
There walketh she with keys quite silver bright, In perfect hose and shoes of seemly black, Apron and stomacher of lily white, And decent order follows in her track: The burnished plate grows lustrous in her sight, And polished floors and tables shine her back.
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