“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Introduction

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“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Summary

“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Themes

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  Folly, Shallowness, and Delusion in Victorian Society

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white”

• Lines 1-4

  Some ladies dress in muslin full and white,
  Some gentlemen in cloth succinct and black;
  Some patronise a dog-cart, some a hack,
  Some think a painted clarence only right.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Youth is not always such a pleasing sight,
  Witness a man with tassels on his back;
  Or woman in a great-coat like a sack
  Towering above her sex with horrid height.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-11

  If all the world were water fit to drown
  There are some whom you would not teach to swim,
  Rather enjoying if you saw them sink;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 12-14

  Certain old ladies dressed in girlish pink,
  With roses and geraniums on their gown:—
  Go to the Bason, poke them o’er the rim.—

  

  

  

  

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“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Symbols

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  Clothing

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  Carriages

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  "Horrid Height"

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“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Hyperbole

  

  

  

  

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• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” 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.

• Muslin full and white
• Cloth succinct and black
• Patronise
• Dog-cart, hack, painted clarence
• Tassels
• Great-coat
• Horrid
• Bason
• O'er

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Speaker

“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white”

More “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Resources

• External Resources

  • Rossetti and Gender Issues — Read an article discussing Rossetti's complex relationship with the "Woman Question," the debate around women's rights and roles in the 19th century.

  • Portraits of Rossetti — See some images of Rossetti—from the time when she wrote this poem as an irritated 18-year-old to her old age as a grande dame of poetry.

  • A Short Biography — Learn more about Rossetti's life and work in this Poetry Foundation biography.

  • Rossetti at the Victorian Web — Learn lots more about Rossetti's poetry at the Victorian Web.

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