Poems (Kennedy)/Sweetheart Knitters

by Sara Beaumont Kennedy

SWEETHEART KNITTERS

DEMURE as though they had stepped from
  Grandmas' daguerreotypes,
They sit and knit, these modern maids
  (Those old dames' prototypes),
Catching the stitch and casting the thread,
  Making some man their debtor,
Working as long as the daylight lasts,
  Knitting a sweetheart sweater.

The needles flash with an amber glint
  In the soft yarn, silver gray,
While the eyes above shine with a dream
  We call "some far, sweet day"—
Round and round with "ribbing" that's taut,
  To tick of the midnight clock,
Tangled hearts in the unwound skein,
  Knitting a sweetheart sock.

Widening for shoulder or for chest,
  "Perling" and wiping a tear,
Kissing the stitches above the heart,
  With a prayer that God be near—
While the needles fly in the olive yarn,
  Forging a soldier's fetters,
For they knit and knit, these patriot dames,
  Sweetheart socks and sweaters!