The Looking-Glass
Queen Bess was Harry's daughter. Stand forward partners all!She danced King Philip down-a down,And left her shoe to show 'twas true--(The very tune I'm playing you)In Norgem at Brickwall!
The Queen was in her chamber, and she was middling old,Her petticoat was satin, and her stomacher was gold.Backwards and forwards and sideways did she pass,Making up her mind to face the cruel looking-glass.The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lassAs comely or as kindly or as young as what she was!
Queen Bess was Harry's daughter. Now hand your partners all!The Queen was in her chamber, a-combing of her hair.There came Queen Mary's spirit and It stood behind her chair.Singing, 'Backwards and forwards and sideways may you pass,But I will stand behind you till you face the looking-glass.The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lassAs lovely or unlucky or as lonely as I was!'
Queen Bess was Harry's daughter.--Now turn your partners all!The Queen was in her chamber, a-weeping very sore.There came Lord Leicester's spirit and It scratched upon the door,Singing, 'Backwards and forwards and sideways may you pass,But I will walk beside you till you face the looking-glass.The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lassAs hard and unforgiving or as wicked as you was!'
The Queen was in her chamber; her sins were on her head.She looked the spirits up and down and statelily she said:--Backwards and forwards and sideways though I've been,Yet I am Harry's daughter and I am England's Queen!'And she faced the looking-glass (and whatever else there was),And she saw her day was over and she saw her beauty passIn the cruel looking-glass, that can always hurt a lassMore hard than any ghost there is or any man there was!
Words in this poem
- middling a.
- Of middle rank, state, size, or quality; about equally distant from the extremes; medium; moderate; mediocre; ordinary.
- stomacher n.
- One who stomachs.
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- statelily adv.
- In a stately manner.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Looking-Glass is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, The Looking-Glass, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/the-looking-glass.html, id L20384.
Form and metre
The Looking-Glass is 33 lines in 5 stanzas.
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 A-BBA allA · down · trueB · youB · brickwallA
- 2 AABBB- oldA · goldA · passB · glassB · lassB · was
- 3 -AABBB- all · hairA · chairA · passB · glassB · lassB · was
- 4 -AABBB- all · soreA · doorA · passB · glassB · lassB · was
- 5 AA--BCCB headA · saidA · been · queen · wasB · passC · lassC · wasB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Bess was Harry's daughter. Stand forward partners all! | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘/˘· |
| She danced King Philip down-a down, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And left her shoe to show 'twas true-- | 8 | ········ |
| (The very tune I'm playing you) | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In Norgem at Brickwall! | 6 | ······ |
| The Queen was in her chamber, and she was middling old, | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| Her petticoat was satin, and her stomacher was gold. | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Backwards and forwards and sideways did she pass, | 11 | /˘·/˘·/···· |
| Making up her mind to face the cruel looking-glass. | 12 | /˘······//˘· |
| The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass | 11 | ·//˘···/··· |
| As comely or as kindly or as young as what she was! | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| Queen Bess was Harry's daughter. Now hand your partners all! | 13 | ···/˘/˘···/˘· |
| The Queen was in her chamber, a-combing of her hair. | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| There came Queen Mary's spirit and It stood behind her chair. | 13 | ···/˘/······· |
| Singing, 'Backwards and forwards and sideways may you pass, | 13 | /˘/˘·/˘·/···· |
| But I will stand behind you till you face the looking-glass. | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass | 11 | ·//˘···/··· |
| As lovely or unlucky or as lonely as I was!' | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Queen Bess was Harry's daughter.--Now turn your partners all! | 13 | ···/˘/˘···/˘· |
| The Queen was in her chamber, a-weeping very sore. | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘/˘· |
| There came Lord Leicester's spirit and It scratched upon the door, | 13 | ···/˘/······· |
| Singing, 'Backwards and forwards and sideways may you pass, | 13 | /˘/˘·/˘·/···· |
| But I will walk beside you till you face the looking-glass. | 14 | ····˘/·····/˘· |
| The cruel looking-glass that will never show a lass | 11 | ·//˘···/··· |
| As hard and unforgiving or as wicked as you was!' | 13 | ···˘/˘··/˘··· |
| The Queen was in her chamber; her sins were on her head. | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| She looked the spirits up and down and statelily she said:-- | 14 | ···/˘····/˘˘·· |
| Backwards and forwards and sideways though I've been, | 11 | /˘·/˘·/···· |
| Yet I am Harry's daughter and I am England's Queen!' | 13 | ···/˘/˘···/˘· |
| And she faced the looking-glass (and whatever else there was), | 14 | ····/˘···/˘··· |
| And she saw her day was over and she saw her beauty pass | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| In the cruel looking-glass, that can always hurt a lass | 13 | ··//˘···/˘··· |
| More hard than any ghost there is or any man there was! | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
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.