One Way there was of Muting in the Mind

One way there was of muting in the mind

A little while the ever-clamorous care;

And there was rapture, of a decent kind, / In making mean and ugly objects fair;

Soft-sooted kettle-bottoms, that had been

Time after time set in above the fire, / Faucets, and candlesticks, corroded green, / To mine again from quarry; to attire

The shelves in paper petticoats, and tack

New oilcloth in the ringed-and-rotten's place, / Polish the stove till you could see your face, / And after nightfall rear an aching back

In a changed kitchen, bright as a new pin, / An advertisement, far too fine to cook a supper in.