Song for a Fifth Child
Mother, oh
mother, come shake out your cloth!
Empty the
dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the
washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a
button and make up a bed.
Where is the
mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in
the nursery, blissfully rocking!
Oh, I’ve grown
as shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby,
rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are
waiting and bills are past due
(Pat- a- cake,
darling and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s
not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the
yard and there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m
playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby,
rockaby, lullaby loo).
Oh, cleaning
and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children
grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down,
cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my
baby. Babies don’t keep.
1958 Ruth Hulburt Hamilton