Sara Price mid-1800s
Peggy Seeger wrote in 1968: “This song was copied from the diary of Mrs. Sara A. Price of Ottawa, Illinois. She had seven children and lost them all. Some of her sons were killed in the American Civil War. Thus, this version can be dated about mid 19th century.”
Judy Cook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piW93Sc4Ufw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piW93Sc4Ufw
One day as I wandered I heard a complaining, I saw an old woman the picture of gloom. She stared at the mud on her doorstep (’twas raining) And this was her song as she wielded her broom, Chorus: “Oh, life is a toil and love is a trouble, Beauty will fade and riches will flee. Pleasures will dwindle and prices will double, And nothing is as I would wish it to be.” “There’s too much of worriment goes to a bonnet, There’s too much of ironing goes to a shirt. There’s nothing repays the time you waste on it, There’s nothing stays with us but trouble and dirt. “In March there is mud, there’s sludge in December, The hot winds of summer are laden with dust. In fall the leaves litter, in muddy September The wallpaper rots and the candlesticks rust. “There’s worm in the cherries and fly on the roses, There’s ants in the sugar and mice in the pies. The rubbish of spiders no human supposes, There’s ravaging beetles and damaging flies. “There’s sweeping at six and there’s dusting at seven, There’s victuals at eight and there’s dishes at nine. There’s potting and panning from ten to eleven, We’ve scarce finished breakfast, we’re ready to dine. “With grease and with grime from corner to centre, Forever at war, forever alert. No rest for a day lest the enemy enter, I spend my whole life in a struggle with dirt. “Last night in my dreams I was banished forever To a far distant rock in the midst of the sea. My sole task in life, a constant endeavour To brush off the waves as they swept over me. “Alas, ’twas no dream! At last I behold it! I see I am helpless my fate to avert.” She laid down her broom, her apron she folded, She lay down and died and was buried in dirt.