The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti wrote her satirical sonnet “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” as an (apparently rather fed-up) teenager. The poem’s speaker looks around at the people of Victorian London and finds many of them ridiculous. Whether they’re worrying about what kind of carriage is the most proper or dressing up in ludicrous “tassels,” everyone the speaker lays eyes on seems both shallow and self-deceiving; nobody seems to notice what fools they’re making of themselves. If the whole world were flooded, the witty, misanthropic speaker declares, there are plenty of people whom they’d be perfectly happy to watch “sink.” Rossetti did not publish this biting little poem during her lifetime; it was only printed after her death in the 1896 collection New Poems.
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The Full Text of “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white”
1Some ladies dress in muslin full and white,
2Some gentlemen in cloth succinct and black;
3Some patronise a dog-cart, some a hack,
4Some think a painted clarence only right.
5Youth is not always such a pleasing sight,
6Witness a man with tassels on his back;
7Or woman in a great-coat like a sack
8Towering above her sex with horrid height.
9If all the world were water fit to drown
10There are some whom you would not teach to swim,
11Rather enjoying if you saw them sink;
12Certain old ladies dressed in girlish pink,
13With roses and geraniums on their gown:—
14Go to the Bason, poke them o’er the rim.—
The Full Text of “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white”
1Some ladies dress in muslin full and white,
2Some gentlemen in cloth succinct and black;
3Some patronise a dog-cart, some a hack,
4Some think a painted clarence only right.
5Youth is not always such a pleasing sight,
6Witness a man with tassels on his back;
7Or woman in a great-coat like a sack
8Towering above her sex with horrid height.
9If all the world were water fit to drown
10There are some whom you would not teach to swim,
11Rather enjoying if you saw them sink;
12Certain old ladies dressed in girlish pink,
13With roses and geraniums on their gown:—
14Go to the Bason, poke them o’er the rim.—
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“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Summary
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“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”
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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. -
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. -
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; -
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
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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”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Speaker
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“Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white”
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More “Some ladies dress in muslin full and white” Resources
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External Resources
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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.
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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.
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A Short Biography — Learn more about Rossetti's life and work in this Poetry Foundation biography.
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Rossetti at the Victorian Web — Learn lots more about Rossetti's poetry at the Victorian Web.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Christina Rossetti
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