The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1852-01-29
20 a.eR
- ----- ->------ -~---~-- - = --'-- -
Mr.. Piernont's Po m.

MI. Pler % MS 4 cihs
Tie following e.irac, from Mr. ricrponts
poem on Improvement, delivered on "Wednesday
evening, by The author before the Adclphi in
Lowell, will be read with little interest, by
svery enc Of k;s numerous hearcrs. The author
IS spsskins Of the New England character, and
If the progress. nade by her active and indus
iroGs sens in the arts Of life.
See what has come of til, n,ercurial cas-,
or Ysnkcs mind, within century past; s 4
Nay, within half that time ;--come, 60 with me.
TIC such farm house used TO see;
Or may yet Oh any Of the hills,
! bat with has sons the Yankee farmer tIl's.
No wave, or wizards wand, we need Ia throw
Ourselves back, half centnry ago
Let Us 20 in, then, ffend---st you down there,
On that board stool. or splinter bottom chair;
Beside the blazing FIRE Of Kissing logs,
hep, licm the hearth-sione by east iron dogs,-
There, an her lonely seat, the housewife see,
A psir Of hand-cards pressed upon her knee,
''Persali aad Peii," uF2n tie back displayed,
Informs the wcsd by ~li.m these cards we're
made
A heap Of cotton lying hy her side
Cotton that her own hands have washed and dried;
And, as her tssy hands their task perform,
White rs sno~ wreath IN Christmas s,urn,,
Tie piIs of rolls swells SLOWLY, as the day.
Wasting her patien, 'pirit, wears awsy.
Then, v h.n at last. her weary labor Ger,
The raw material taken from The floor,
On her left baud. ard by her niag,o slsigtt
Laid !costly IN the basket ON her right
Then comes The thoush.-who do,h not with her
fceli
These rolls mus; lie span upon The wheel!'
The -piEning wheel ne'er was i.at monster
dumb
FsIly and la:e, you heard lis jolcfn hum;
Even from Tie rising 10 h- setting sun,
Esrly and late, the weary woman spun,
With only this to help her hear the CURSE
q fearful looking for Of something worse;
Yes: cor although YOU may have held it bard,
Day in and cut that cUlton ihrs To card;
Though you n ght almost hold il as a sin,
Day ir aad out that Gotten thus SPIN;
We mus; insist upon il, with your leave,
'TweTe worse than cotton IN loon to weave,
Ard could that woman, she set so meek,
CaFiing hsr white rclls, or, week BY week,
Her spindle's dull, premoniiory huns
Were heard, have filled 10 think Of sPoOls and
ihrums!
Have f4ied 10 sec, amid the gathering gloom,
I he reed and ireaGios of the approaching boom,
Let Us be jgs,. ] hat true, devoted dame
We need not H. ue her here, nor fear to name.
iieT labor lay in no lgnesle line: .
She Inay have been YOUR mother; she irds mine !;
Let Us be lus,; thai fi hful woman bad
Her mothers let, compared with hers, was hard !;
Her mother had cotton wool to card;
And TO her n.olher's ioi it never fell.
To use The cards made BIZ Persali and Peli.
Her fnoIhsrs wheel i, may have been as big
As was her own, II was not, yet so trig:
She'd seen srch progress in the arts Of life,
rs much 10 aid the mother and the wife,
Where r the husband or the child might roam,
10 making Cor Ihem both happy home.
Oh had that housewife as, fatigued with toll,
She sat and watched 10 the kettle boil,
For evening tea, observed the iron crown
OF her tea kettle hobbie up and down,
And seen the yapor as ii issued out,
Snow white and Kissing from the heated snoui;
Wreatlis itself up, all spfit-like and warm, F.
Into the senblance Of an angel form;
Seen il sofod us wings, and heard il Say
"Woman, fear not, for thou shalt see the day,
When /. yes I, the vapor that seem,
OF FIRE and water bora, and baptized S.eam,
VIII save YOU all This labor viii gin
Your cotton frst--ibcn viii card and spin, -
Reel, wash. dry, spool the filling, size The warp,
Nay, If with your eye. YOU look out sharp, e
You'll see me fling il 50 tltal both your eyes
Shs,I iati &c see the shuttle rs II flies,
And, the shuttle shoots, the reed shah strike
III drive them both. and drive them beth alike, =
And, when the web i. III .ough the loom, By dint
OF my swo power IN calendar ami prin'i
Az. madam, through these snbors viii go,
And give ourdaushters printed calico, 49,. ..
Scr less than half the money, by the yard,
Nos paid, per peuni, for Gotten, that you card,
Nay. ma'a that boy. who ps tell you this,
Heats IN my voice Roagbt bat the KETTLES hiss,
That bog, by Spinning from his towy head,
Aud re-iing Off lines about cottcn thread,
Shall buy more co,ieG shhtIng in one even, q
Than ycu spin nj card this side Of Hcav Ell.
Had the Steam Spirit then and thus addressed
Her ho loyo1 me hon, I x,t Loaf
Woaid she not, starting up, have SCREAMED a
Scream -.T
And cricd-''l know thee. thou foul spirit oil
steam s0r.
al see thou risest from the fires below:
Both no thou ART, q nd what thou wouldst. knss
know thou Hest! IN have no part with thee,
HeVii, avannt II will not taste thy rEA.''
Vet. have we seen The Power that We suppose
To have spoken thus from the tea kettle = nose
More than make good what, at first appeared t, b.
IA once q boasIfuI and false prophecy.