Soils  and    subsoils,  and  ploughs,  and

the  makers  of  them  and  their  shops,
And  all    the  new-fangled  ways  !    but

none  of  the  old-fashioned  work
Ever  he  put  his  hands  to :  there  was

not  a  rake  or  a  fork.
Plough  or  harrow  that  was  not  broken,

and  out  of  repair
Just  when    they  needed  it  most,  and

waste  was  everywhere.
But  Lizzie   began    at    once    to   make

everything  nice  and  clean.
To  put  everything  in  the  house  in  its

place  where  it  should  have  been  ;
Pity  the   pig   that  ventured   to  grunt

inside  of  her  door  !
Pity  the   hen    that   entered  where  it

used  to  cackle  before  !
The  kitchen  was  like  a  parlour,  none

of  them  dared  to  tread
With  mucky  shoes  on  her  earth-floor ;

for  she  had  a  tongue  in  her  head.
Women  need  to  be  able  to  scourge  a

fool  with  speech ;
That  is  their  only  weapon  to  punish

him  or  to  teach  ;
And  it  was  worth  while  hearing  her

hit  them  ofi^,  one  by  one.
Every  phrase  just  a  picture,  lit  up  with

a  touch  of  fun.
Making   them  all,  shamefaced,  to  do

her  bidding  at  once.
Till,  at  the  last,  she  needed  no  more

than  a  hasty  glance.
Blavick  used  to  be  hateful ;  but  now

it  grew  pleasant  to  me,
At  first,  I  hardly  knew  why,  but  just

that  I  liked  to  see
The  change  that  Lizzie  had  wrought ;

for  that  I  would  sit  for  hours
And  hear  old  Blavick's  chatter,  as  if

it  were  sweet  as  the  flowers.
Many  a  time  when  I  went  out  just  to

look  over  a  field.
