One of the things I found when I lived through a Canadian winter was how filthy snow is. How it is easy to tramp the mud and damp into your home. How the pollutants turn everything into a grey slush, which freezes and leads to more work for orthopedic surgeons.

And how sometimes you cannot get the stain out. The text Anne Locke is writing on is.

Wash me from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin

This is her original.

Three.

So foule is sinne and lothesome in thy sighte,
So foule with sinne I see my selfe to be,
That till from sinne I may be washed white,
So foule I dare not, Lord, approche to thee.

Ofte hath thy mercie washed me before,
Thou madest me cleane: but I am foule againe.
Yet washe me Lord againe, and washe me more.
Washe me, O Lord, and do away the staine

Of vggly sinnes that in my soule appere.
Let flow thy ple[n]tuous streames of clensing grace.
Washe me againe, yea washe me euery where,
Bothe leprous bodie and defiled face.

Yea washe me all, for I am all vncleane,
And from my sin, Lord, cleanse me ones againe.

Anne Locke

And here is the transcription. In the first verse washed has to be two syllables to work, and thee instead of you so the rhyme works. In the first line of the second verse washed is one syllable — the alternative would me Oft has they mercy wash-ed me before/ You made me clean, but I am foul again I have been free with the remainder of the that verse.

In the third stanza of ugly sins sounds odder to me than the ugly sins. But Locke is the poet, and I am not.

I should add that Locke would have seen Leprosy: it was endemic throughout Europe.

So foul is sin and loathsome to your sight
So fouled with sin I see myself to be
That til from sin I may be wash-ed white
So foul I dare not. Lord approach to thee.

Often has your mercy washed me before
You have made me clean, yet I am foul again
But wash me Lord again, and wash me more
Wash me Lord, and remove the stain.

The ugly sins that in my soul appear
Let flow your plenteous streams of cleansing grace
Was me again, yes wash me everywhere.
Both leprouse body and defiled face.

Yes wash me all, for I am all unclean
And from my sin, Lord, cleanse me once again.

Anne Locke.