Let firm, well hammer'd soles protect thy feet
Through freezing snows, and rains, and soaking sleet;
Should read more

Let firm, well hammer'd soles protect thy feet
Through freezing snows, and rains, and soaking sleet;
Should the big last extend the shoe too wide,
Each stone will wrench the unwary step aside;
The sudden turn may stretch the swelling vein,
The cracking joint unhinge, or ankle sprain;
And when too short the modish shoes are worn,
You'll judge the seasons by your shooting corn.

The shoemaker makes a good shoe because he makes nothing else.

The shoemaker makes a good shoe because he makes nothing else.

As he cobbled and hammered from morning till dark,
With the footgear to mend on his knees,
read more

As he cobbled and hammered from morning till dark,
With the footgear to mend on his knees,
Stitching patches, or pegging on soles as he sang,
Out of tune, ancient catches and glees.

One said he wondered that leather was not dearer than any other
thing. Being demanded a reason: because, saith read more

One said he wondered that leather was not dearer than any other
thing. Being demanded a reason: because, saith he, it is more
stood upon than any other thing in the world.
- William Hazlitt,

The fairy stitching gleams
On the sides and in the seams,
And it shows
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The fairy stitching gleams
On the sides and in the seams,
And it shows
That Pixies were the wags
Who tipped these funny tags
And these toes.

Ye tuneful cobblers! still your notes prolong,
Compose at once a slipper and a song;
So shall read more

Ye tuneful cobblers! still your notes prolong,
Compose at once a slipper and a song;
So shall the fair your handiwork peruse,
Your sonnets sure shall please--perhaps your shoes.

A careless shoe string, in whose tie
I see a wilde civility.

A careless shoe string, in whose tie
I see a wilde civility.

But from the hoop's bewitching round,
He very shoe has power to wound.

But from the hoop's bewitching round,
He very shoe has power to wound.

Remember, cobbler, to keep to your leather.
[Lat., Memento, in pellicula, cerdo, tenere tuo.]

Remember, cobbler, to keep to your leather.
[Lat., Memento, in pellicula, cerdo, tenere tuo.]