The Queen of Hearts
How comes it, Flora, that, whenever wePlay cards together, you invariably,However the pack parts,Still hold the Queen of Hearts?
I've scanned you with a scrutinizing gaze,Resolved to fathom these your secret ways:But, sift them as I will,Your ways are secret still.
I cut and shuffle; shuffle, cut, again;But all my cutting, shuffling, proves in vain:Vain hope, vain forethought too;The Queen still falls to you.
I dropped her once, prepense; but, ere the dealWas dealt, your instinct seemed her loss to feel:'There should be one card more,'You said, and searched the floor.
I cheated once; I made a private notchIn Heart-Queen's back, and kept a lynx-eyed watch;Yet such another backDeceived me in the pack:
The Queen of Clubs assumed by arts unknownAn imitative dint that seemed my own;This notch, not of my doing,Misled me to my ruin.
It baffles me to puzzle out the clue,Which must be skill, or craft, or luck in you:Unless, indeed, it beNatural affinity.
Words in this poem
- flora n.
- The goddess of flowers and spring. [L., the goddess of flowers, from flos, floris, flower. See Flower.]
- forethought a.
- Thought of, or planned, beforehand; aforethought; prepense; hence, deliberate.
- prepense v. t.
- To weigh or consider beforehand; to premeditate. [Pref. pre + F. penser to think. See Pansy.]
- dint n.
- A blow; a stroke. [OE. dint, dent, dunt, a blow, AS. dynt; akin to Icel. dyntr a dint, dynta to dint, and perh. to L. fendere (in composition). Cf. 1st Dent, Defend.]
- clue n.
- A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself. [OE. clewe, clowe, clue, AS. cleowen, cliwen, clywe ball of thread; akin to D. kluwen, OHG. chliwa, chliuwa, G. dim. kleuel, knäuel, and perch. to L. gluma hull,]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Queen of Hearts 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, The Queen of Hearts, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/the-queen-of-hearts.html, id L04306.
Form and metre
The Queen of Hearts is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 --AA we · invariably · partsA · heartsA
- 2 AABB gazeA · waysA · willB · stillB
- 3 AABB againA · vainA · tooB · youB
- 4 AABB dealA · feelA · moreB · floorB
- 5 AABB notchA · watchA · backB · packB
- 6 AA-A unknownA · ownA · doing · ruinA
- 7 AA-- clueA · youA · be · affinity
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How comes it, Flora, that, whenever we | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Play cards together, you invariably, | 9 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| However the pack parts, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Still hold the Queen of Hearts? | 6 | ······ |
| I've scanned you with a scrutinizing gaze, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Resolved to fathom these your secret ways: | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| But, sift them as I will, | 6 | ······ |
| Your ways are secret still. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I cut and shuffle; shuffle, cut, again; | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| But all my cutting, shuffling, proves in vain: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Vain hope, vain forethought too; | 6 | ···/·· |
| The Queen still falls to you. | 6 | ······ |
| I dropped her once, prepense; but, ere the deal | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Was dealt, your instinct seemed her loss to feel: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| 'There should be one card more,' | 6 | ······ |
| You said, and searched the floor. | 6 | ······ |
| I cheated once; I made a private notch | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| In Heart-Queen's back, and kept a lynx-eyed watch; | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet such another back | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Deceived me in the pack: | 6 | ˘/···· |
| The Queen of Clubs assumed by arts unknown | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| An imitative dint that seemed my own; | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| This notch, not of my doing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Misled me to my ruin. | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| It baffles me to puzzle out the clue, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Which must be skill, or craft, or luck in you: | 10 | ·········· |
| Unless, indeed, it be | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Natural affinity. | 7 | /˘˘˘/˘˘ |
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.