Agnes Scott College

Helen A. Merrill

So Let Me Work
The Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 19, February 1926, p99

A conversation inspired by a poem in The Mathematics Teacher, Jan. 1925

The preacher speaks:
So let me preach from week to week
That ardent crowds that hear me speak
Remember all my looks and ways,
Though they forget their God to praise.

The tailor speaks:
So let me sew from day to day,
On clothes for work or clothes for play,
That, though they lack both fit and style,
My patrons bless me all the while.

The baker speaks:
So let me cook from meal to meal
That hungry folks who with me deal
Forget all indigestion's ache,
Remembering me, not what I bake.

The telephone operator speaks:
So let me work throughout the week
Connecting me that wish to speak,
That they forget each wrong connection,
But keep me in their recollection.

The taxi-driver speaks:
So let me drive on high or low
That all the fares who with me go
Forget each overcharge and skid,
Remembering me, not what I did.

The teacher speaks again:
So let me teach from day to day
That all I teach fades straight away,
And old grads mutter, each to each
"A kind old soul—but couldn't teach."