The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #129897 Message #2918771
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
01-Jun-10 - 10:09 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Poor Old Woman/Housewife's Lament
Subject: Lyr Add: POOR OLD WOMAN (trad. Florida)
POOR OLD WOMAN
One day as I wandered I heard a complaining;
I saw an old woman the picture of gloom;
The mud on the doorsteps it was raining,
And this wail as she wielded her broom.
Chorus:
O, life is a toil and love is a trouble;
Beauty will fade and riches will flee;
And prices are doubled and prizes are dwindled,
And nothing is as I could wish it to be.
There's too much worriment goes to a bonnet;
There's too much ironing goes to a shirt;
There's nothing that pays for the time wasted on it;
There's nothing that lasts but trouble and dirt.
Alas, 'twas no dream, for again I behold it.
I yield, I am helpless my fate to avert;
She rolled down her sleeves and her apron she folded,
And lay down and died and was buried in dirt.
Coll. Moss Bluff, Florida.
Alton C. Morris, 1950, Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida Press.
I have seen a more coherent version but I can't find it.
The song, "The Old Lady and the Pig," reminded me of it.
Other versions? Probably old, from the UK originally, but I am looking for 'dirt' versions.