Any Woman

I am the pillars of the house;

The Keystone of the arch am l.

Take me away, and roof and wall

Would fall to ruin me utterly.

I'm the fire upon the hearth,

I'm the light of the good sun,

I'm the heat that warms the earth

Which else were colder than a stone.

At me the children warm their hands;

I'm their light of love alive

Without me cold the hearthstone stands

Nor could the precious children thrive.

I'm the twist that holds together

The children in its sacred ring

Their knot of love, from whose close tether

No Lost child goes a-wandering.

I'm the house from floor to roof

I deck the walls, the board I spread;

I spin the curtains, warp, and woof,

And shake them down to be their bed.

I'm their wall against all danger,

Their door against the wind and snow,

Thou whom a woman laid in a manger,

Take me not till the children grow..