This poem was written between 1879-1882, published in her daughters’ biography, Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), which earned Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliott the Pulitzer Prize in 1917.
The clothes-line is a Rosary
Of household help and care;
Each little saint the Mother loves
Is represented there.
And when across her garden plot
She walks, with thoughtful heed,
I should not wonder if she told
Each garment for a bead.
A stranger passing, I salute
The Household in its wear,
And smile to think how near of kin
Are love and toil and prayer.
