When Grandma Was a Little Girl

When Grandma Was a Little Girl 

When Grandma was a little girl
Her dresses came 'most to the floor
And over them she used to wear
A pretty ruffled pinafore.
Her bonnets, though, were very plain.
She carried a small reticule
And wore a little shoulder cape
Of mornings, when she went to school.

My Grandma always was most neat,
Obedient, and good, and true;
It was a pleasure, so she says,
To do as she was told to do.
And when she sewed she always set
Her stitches firm and neat and fine;
That sampler on the parlor wall
She worked: "Cordelia, aged nine."

She pieced a quilt 'fore she was eight,
'Twas made of white and gay maroon.
She'd sit most patiently each day
And stitch the whole long afternoon.
Her stockings, too, she always knit.
And turned with skill the heel and toe.
She darned and patched - such useful things
She says, each young girl ought to know. 

When Grandma was a little girl
She was, I think, so very dear.
Such eyes! Such smiles! Such lovely hair
This is her picture hanging here.
I'd like to look as she did then,
(Such praise, I know, her beauty got)
But as for doing as she did,
I really think I'd rather not!