The Knitting Song (1915)
Soldier sad, on the sodden ground,Sailor lad on the seas,
Can't you hear a little cricketty sound.
Stealing across on the breeze ?
It's the knitting needles singing their song,
As they twine the khaki or blue,
Thousands and thousands and thousands strong,
Tommy and Jack, for you, Click-click-click !
How they dart and flick,
Flashing In the firelight to and fro !
Nor for purl and pain,
Round and round again,
Knitting love and luck in every row. The busy hands may be rough or white,
The fingers gouty or slim,
The careful eyes may be youthfully bright,
Or they may be weary and dim,
Lady and workgirl, young and old,
They've all got one end in view,
Knitting warm comforts against the cold,
Tommy and Jack, for you. Click-click-click !
How they dart and flick,
Flashing in the firelight to and fro !
Nor for purl and pain,
Round and round again,
Knitting love and luck in every row. Knitting away by the midnight oil,
Knitting when day begins,
Lads, in the stress of your splendid toil
Can't you hear the song of the pins?
Clicketty click-through the wind and the foam,
It's telling the boys over there
That every woolly that comes from home
Brings a smile and a hope and a prayer, Click-click-click !
How they dart and flick,
Flashing in the firelight to and fro !
Nor for purl and pain,
Round and round again,
Knitting love and luck in every row. Notes From the Victorian Newspaper The Wangaratta Chronicle 3 Jul 1915 p. 6. Knitting for service men in the Great War required a large unpaid army of women of all ages to keep up the supplies with the added benefit of "knitting love and luck in every row".