Cousin Kate
I was a cottage maidenHardened by sun and air,Contented with my cottage mates,Not mindful I was fair.Why did a great lord find me out,And praise my flaxen hair?Why did a great lord find me outTo fill my heart with care?
He lured me to his palace home--Woe's me for joy thereof--To lead a shameless shameful life,His plaything and his love.He wore me like a silken knot,He changed me like a glove;So now I moan, an unclean thing,Who might have been a dove.
O Lady Kate, my cousin Kate,You grew more fair than I:He saw you at your father's gate,Chose you, and cast me by.He watched your steps along the lane,Your work among the rye;He lifted you from mean estateTo sit with him on high.
Because you were so good and pureHe bound you with his ring:The neighbours call you good and pure,Call me an outcast thing.Even so I sit and howl in dust,You sit in gold and sing:Now which of us has tenderer heart?You had the stronger wing.
O cousin Kate, my love was true,Your love was writ in sand:If he had fooled not me but you,If you stood where I stand,He'd not have won me with his loveNor bought me with his land;I would have spit into his faceAnd not have taken his hand.
Yet I've a gift you have not got,And seem not like to get:For all your clothes and wedding-ringI've little doubt you fret.My fair-haired son, my shame, my pride,Cling closer, closer yet:Your father would give lands for oneTo wear his coronet.
Words in this poem
- mindful a.
- Bearing in mind; regardful; attentive; heedful; observant.
- flaxen a.
- Made of flax; resembling flax or its fibers; of the color of flax; of a light soft straw color; fair and flowing, like flax or tow; as, flaxen thread; flaxen hair.
- plaything n.
- A thing to play with; a toy; anything that serves to amuse.
- kate n.
- The brambling finch.
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cousin Kate is in the public domain. This text is taken from Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #16950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Christina Rossetti, Cousin Kate, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/cousin-kate.html, id L04244.
Form and metre
Cousin Kate is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-ABABA maiden · airA · mates · fairA · outB · hairA · outB · careA
- 2 -A-A-A-A home · thereofA · life · loveA · knot · gloveA · thing · doveA
- 3 ABAB-BAB kateA · iB · gateA · byB · lane · ryeB · estateA · highB
- 4 ABAB-B-B pureA · ringB · pureA · thingB · dust · singB · heart · wingB
- 5 ABAB-B-B trueA · sandB · youA · standB · love · landB · face · handB
- 6 -A-A-A-A got · getA · ring · fretA · pride · yetA · one · coronetA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I was a cottage maiden | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Hardened by sun and air, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Contented with my cottage mates, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Not mindful I was fair. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Why did a great lord find me out, | 8 | ········ |
| And praise my flaxen hair? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Why did a great lord find me out | 8 | ········ |
| To fill my heart with care? | 6 | ······ |
| He lured me to his palace home-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Woe's me for joy thereof-- | 6 | ······ |
| To lead a shameless shameful life, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His plaything and his love. | 6 | ·/···· |
| He wore me like a silken knot, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He changed me like a glove; | 6 | ······ |
| So now I moan, an unclean thing, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Who might have been a dove. | 6 | ······ |
| O Lady Kate, my cousin Kate, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| You grew more fair than I: | 6 | ······ |
| He saw you at your father's gate, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Chose you, and cast me by. | 6 | ······ |
| He watched your steps along the lane, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Your work among the rye; | 6 | ······ |
| He lifted you from mean estate | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| To sit with him on high. | 6 | ······ |
| Because you were so good and pure | 8 | ········ |
| He bound you with his ring: | 6 | ······ |
| The neighbours call you good and pure, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Call me an outcast thing. | 6 | ···/·· |
| Even so I sit and howl in dust, | 8 | /······· |
| You sit in gold and sing: | 6 | ······ |
| Now which of us has tenderer heart? | 9 | ········· |
| You had the stronger wing. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O cousin Kate, my love was true, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your love was writ in sand: | 6 | ······ |
| If he had fooled not me but you, | 8 | ········ |
| If you stood where I stand, | 6 | ······ |
| He'd not have won me with his love | 8 | ········ |
| Nor bought me with his land; | 6 | ······ |
| I would have spit into his face | 8 | ········ |
| And not have taken his hand. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Yet I've a gift you have not got, | 8 | ········ |
| And seem not like to get: | 6 | ······ |
| For all your clothes and wedding-ring | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I've little doubt you fret. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My fair-haired son, my shame, my pride, | 8 | ········ |
| Cling closer, closer yet: | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Your father would give lands for one | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To wear his coronet. | 6 | ···/˘/ |
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.