Only a Working Girl.
I know I am only a working girl,
And I am not ashamed to say
I belong to the ranks of those who toil
For a living, day by day.
With willing feet I press along
In the paths that I must tread,
Proud that I have the strength and skill
To earn my daily bread.
I belong to the “lower classes;”
That’s a phrase we often meet.
There are some who sneer at working girls;
As they pass us on the street,
They stare at us in proud disdain
And their lips in scorn will curl,
And oftentimes we hear them say:
“She’s only a working girl.”
“Only a working girl!” Thank God,
With willing hands and heart,
Able to earn my daily bread,
And in Life’s battle take my part.
You could offer me no title
I would be more proud to own,
And I stand as high in the sight of God
As the Queen upon her throne.
Those gentle folk who pride themselves
Upon their wealth and birth,
And look with scorn on those who have
Naught else but honest worth,
Your gentle birth we laugh to scorn,
For we hold it as our creed
That none are gentle, save the one
Who does a gentle deed.
We are only the “lower classes,”
But the Holy Scriptures tell
How, when the King of Glory
Came down on earth to dwell,
Not with the rich and mighty
’Neath costly palace dome,
But with the poor and lowly
He chose to make His home.
He was one of the “lower classes,”
And had to toil for bread,
So poor that oftentimes He had
No place to lay His head.
He knows what it is to labor
And toil the long day thro’,
He knows when we are weary
For He’s been weary too.
O working girls! Remember,
It is neither crime or shame
To work for honest wages,
Since Christ has done the same,
And wealth and high position
Seem but of little worth
To us, whose fellow laborer
Is King of Heaven and Earth.
So when you meet with scornful sneers,
Just lift your heads in pride;
The shield of honest womanhood
Can turn such sneers aside,
And some day they will realize
That the purest, fairest pearls
’Mid the gems of noble womankind
Are “only working girls.”