Washing Linen After Her Country Fashion
Well done and wetly, thou Fair Maid of Perth,Thou mak’st a washing picture well deservingThe pen and pencilling of Washington Irving:Like dripping Naiad, pearly from her birth,Dashing about the water of the Firth,To cleanse the calico of Mrs. Skirving,And never from thy dance of duty swervingAs there were nothing else than dirt on earth!Yet what is thy reward? Nay, do not start!I do not mean to give thee a new damper,But while thou fillest this industrious partOf washer, wearer, mangler, presser, stamper,Deserving better character--thou artWhat Bodkin would but call--“a common tramper.”
Words in this poem
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- naiad n.
- A water nymph; one of the lower female divinities, fabled to preside over some body of fresh water, as a lake, river, brook, or fountain. [L. naias, -adis, naïs, -idis, a water nymph, Gr naïade. Cf. Naid.]
- firth n.
- An arm of the sea; a frith. [Scot. See Frith.]
- industrious a.
- Given to industry; characterized by diligence; constantly, regularly, or habitually occupied; busy; assiduous; not slothful or idle; -- commonly implying devotion to lawful and useful labor. [L. industrius, industriosus: cf. F. industrieux. See Industry.]
- washer n.
- One who, or that which, washes. [AS. wæscere.]
- mangler n.
- One who mangles or tears in cutting; one who mutilates any work in doing it. [See 1st Mangle.]
- presser n.
- One who, or that which, presses. Presser bar, or Presser wheel (Knitting machine), a bar or wheel which closes the barbs of the needles to enable the loops of the yarn to pass over them.
- stamper n.
- One who stamps.
- tramper n.
- One who tramps; a stroller; a vagrant or vagabond; a tramp.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Washing Linen After Her Country Fashion is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Comic Poems of Thomas Hood A New and Complete Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #56712; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, Washing Linen After Her Country Fashion, in Poems (1827–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56712, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poems/washing-linen-after-her-country-fashion.html, id L06797.
Form and metre
Washing Linen After Her Country Fashion is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDCD, the pattern of the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other Italian sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBAABBACDCDCD perthA · deservingB · irvingB · birthA · firthA · skirvingB · swervingB · earthA · startC · damperD · partC · stamperD · artC · tramperD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Well done and wetly, thou Fair Maid of Perth, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou mak’st a washing picture well deserving | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| The pen and pencilling of Washington Irving: | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Like dripping Naiad, pearly from her birth, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Dashing about the water of the Firth, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| To cleanse the calico of Mrs. Skirving, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| And never from thy dance of duty swerving | 10 | ·/····/˘/˘ |
| As there were nothing else than dirt on earth! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Yet what is thy reward? Nay, do not start! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| I do not mean to give thee a new damper, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| But while thou fillest this industrious part | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Of washer, wearer, mangler, presser, stamper, | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Deserving better character--thou art | 9 | ˘/˘/˘/˘·· |
| What Bodkin would but call--“a common tramper.” | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.