| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | The Charwoman | | By Marguerite Wilkinson |
| | | SHE was grown old in misery and want; | |
| Her threads of life heckled by sordid need, | |
| Stretched taut by lack of love and woven plain | |
| And then by pain and fear worn very thin. | |
| One would not look for prettiness and grace | 5 |
In such a fabric!
Yet this charwoman, | |
| Dun and bedraggled though she surely seemed, | |
| By a brave miracle of God’s good love, | |
| Is rich and sweet and lovely in my eyes. | |
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| Because I met the morning with a smile, | 10 |
| Because I gave a pleasant kindly word, | |
| Which was small gift out of my happiness, | |
| For this, with utmost gracious courtesy, | |
| She touched her lips one morning to my hand. | |
| And my heart leaped in me to follow her! | 15 | | | |
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