“Cousin Kate” Introduction

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“Cousin Kate” Summary

“Cousin Kate” Themes

• 

  Gender, Morality, and Hypocrisy

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• 

  Lust, Love, and Temptation

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Cousin Kate”

• Lines 1-4

  I was a cottage maiden
  Hardened by sun and air
  Contented with my cottage mates,
  Not mindful I was fair.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Why did a great lord find me out,
  And praise my flaxen hair?
  Why did a great lord find me out,
  To fill my heart with care?

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  He lured me to his palace home -
  Woe's me for joy thereof-
  To lead a shameless shameful life,
  His plaything and his love.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  He watched your steps along the lane,
  Your work among the rye;
  He lifted you from mean estate
  To sit with him on high.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  Because you were so good and pure
  He bound you with his ring:
  The neighbors call you good and pure,
  Call me an outcast thing.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-32

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 33-36

  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,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 37-40

  He'd not have won me with his love
  Nor bought me with his land;
  I would have spit into his face
  And not have taken his hand.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 41-44

  Yet I've a gift you have not got,
  And seem not like to get:
  For all your clothes and wedding-ring
  I've little doubt you fret.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 45-48

  My fair-haired son, my shame, my pride,
  Cling closer, closer yet:
  Your father would give his lands for one
  To wear his coronet.

  

  

  

  

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“Cousin Kate” Symbols

• 

  Birds

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  Clothing and Accessories

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• 

  Gift

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“Cousin Kate” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Antithesis

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Chiasmus

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Metonymy

  

  

  

  

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• Paradox

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Rhetorical Question

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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“Cousin Kate” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Maiden
• Hardened
• Fair
• Flaxen
• Silken knot
• Moan
• Dove
• Cast me by
• Rye
• Mean estate
• On high
• Wing
• Writ
• Like
• Fret
• Fair-haired
• Coronet

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Cousin Kate”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Cousin Kate” Speaker

“Cousin Kate” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Cousin Kate”

More “Cousin Kate” Resources

• External Resources

  • Gender and Sexuality in the 19th Century — A collection of articles on gender and sexuality in the Victorian era, written by a biographer of Christina Rossetti and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

  • In Our Time: Christina Rossetti — A 45-minute podcast episode in which literary scholars discuss Rossetti's life and work for BBC Radio 4.

  • The Oxford Movement — The Wikipedia page for the Oxford Movement, including a list of associated figures.

  • Rossetti's Biography — An in-depth account of of Rossetti's life, including a detailed discussion of her writings and links to many of her poems.

  • A Reading — A reading of "Cousin Kate" on YouTube.

  • Art Term: Pre-Raphaelites — A brief, straightforward overview of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood from the Tate Museum.

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