Valedictory to a Cooking Stove.
25
VALEDICTORY.
ON PARTING WITH AN OLD COOK-STOVE.
WELL, thou and I must part, my trusty friend—
"The powers that be," desirous of a change,
Have ordered it, and we must bow our heads
To the stern mandate, and prepare to obey.
Stand up before me—let me wash the rust
Off thy neglected phiz, that thou mayest go
To thy new service cleaned and brightly shining,
A certain token of good housewifery—
Or else, in this fault-finding, slanderous world,
Some tongue may say, (well pleased to find a cause,)
"Stove soiled like this must come from careless hand,"
And thus dishonor both thyself and me.
And while I thus, for the last time, bestow
This oft-repeated favor, let's look back
Upon the many years, whose joys and woes,
And various changes, thou and I have borne
In fellowship. A faithful friend thou wert,
And ever ready to assistance give
When I most needed help—refusing never
To bake, to boil or fry, when called upon
For any of these duties—nay, in that
Most bustling, most important of all times,
The preparation-day for company,
Thy willingness did manifest itself.
"The powers that be," desirous of a change,
Have ordered it, and we must bow our heads
To the stern mandate, and prepare to obey.
Stand up before me—let me wash the rust
Off thy neglected phiz, that thou mayest go
To thy new service cleaned and brightly shining,
A certain token of good housewifery—
Or else, in this fault-finding, slanderous world,
Some tongue may say, (well pleased to find a cause,)
"Stove soiled like this must come from careless hand,"
And thus dishonor both thyself and me.
And while I thus, for the last time, bestow
This oft-repeated favor, let's look back
Upon the many years, whose joys and woes,
And various changes, thou and I have borne
In fellowship. A faithful friend thou wert,
And ever ready to assistance give
When I most needed help—refusing never
To bake, to boil or fry, when called upon
For any of these duties—nay, in that
Most bustling, most important of all times,
The preparation-day for company,
Thy willingness did manifest itself.
