To be a widder is my theme.
For toil hath claimed me for her own,
In wedlock I have found no ease;
I’ve cleaned and washed for neighbors round
And took my pay in beans and pease;
In boiling sap no rest I took
Or husking corn in barn or stook.
Or picking wool from house to house,
White-washing, painting, papering,
In stretching carpets, boiling souse,