Sunday, August 23, 2009

Babies Don't Keep

Part of this poem was on my mom's wall my entire growing up but I never realized it was so long. And I'm not sure if I like it as much in the full version. So let me know your opinion.

Song For A Fifth Child
by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue.
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.)
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due.
(Pat-a-cake, darling and peek, peekaboo.)
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby, loo.)
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait 'til tomorrow,
For children grow up, I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

The six bolded lines were all I thought there were until I looked it up for the author. I liked it's simplicity and the full version seems more complicated somehow.

This is me, thinking about babies a lot lately.

1 comment:

Rocketgirl said...

I'm starting the understand this. Although I can't blame my messy house on me being all mommy-like - I use parenting to get away from housework:) But thank you for sharing, it's really lovely.

From Whence You Cometh