“Shirt” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Shirt”

“Shirt” Summary

“Shirt” Themes

• 

  Exploitation and Consumerism

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-48

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Shirt”

• Lines 1-3

  The back, the ...
  ... Koreans or Malaysians

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 4-7

  Gossiping over tea ...
  ... at my wrist.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-12

  The presser, the ...
  ... no fire escapes—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-18

  The witness in ...
  ... and not eternity.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 19-24

  A third before ...
  ... his gray trousers—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-30

  Like Hart Crane’s ...
  ... Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 30-35

  The clan tartans ...
  ... dusty clattering looms.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 36-42

  Weavers, carders, spinners. ...
  ... inspected my shirt.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 42-48

  Its color and ...
  ... shade. The shirt.

  

  

  

  

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“Shirt” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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  Where allusion appears in the poem:

  • Lines 9-12: “The infamous blaze / At the Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven. / One hundred and forty-six died in the flames / On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—”
  • Line 25: “Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.””
  • Line 31: “Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian,”
  • Lines 40-42: “George Herbert, your descendant is a Black / Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma / And she inspected my shirt.”

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Lines 17-18: “As if he were helping them up / To enter a streetcar, and not eternity.”
  • Line 25: “Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.””

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 2-3: “collar / Turned”
  • Lines 3-4: “Malaysians / Gossiping”
  • Lines 4-5: “break / Or”
  • Lines 5-6: “fitted / This”
  • Lines 6-7: “band / Of”
  • Lines 9-10: “blaze / At”
  • Lines 11-12: “flames / On”
  • Lines 13-14: “street / Who”
  • Lines 14-15: “step / Up”
  • Lines 15-16: “out / Away”
  • Lines 17-18: “up / To”
  • Lines 19-20: “arms    / Around”
  • Lines 20-21: “held / Her”
  • Lines 21-22: “once / He”
  • Lines 22-23: “flared / And”
  • Lines 26-27: “perfectly / Across”
  • Lines 27-28: “bar-tacked / Corners”
  • Lines 28-29: “rhyme / Or”
  • Lines 30-31: “tartans / Invented”
  • Lines 32-33: “tamed / By”
  • Lines 34-35: “workers / To”
  • Lines 37-38: “sorter / Sweatin”
  • Lines 38-39: “cotton / As”
  • Lines 40-41: “Black / Lady”
  • Lines 41-42: “Irma / And”
  • Lines 42-43: “fit / And”
  • Lines 43-44: “satisfied / Both”
  • Lines 44-45: “quality / Down”
  • Lines 46-47: “characters / Printed”

• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

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  Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “The back, the yoke, the yardage. Lapped seams, / The nearly invisible stitches along the collar”
  • Lines 7-9: “The presser, the cutter, / The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union, / The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze”
  • Line 12: “On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—”
  • Lines 29-30: “Prints, plaids, checks, / Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras.”
  • Lines 33-34: “MacGregor, / Bailey, MacMartin.”
  • Lines 36-37: “Weavers, carders, spinners. The loader, / The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter”
  • Lines 40-41: “your descendant is a Black / Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma”
  • Lines 45-48: “the buttons of simulated bone, / The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters / Printed in black on neckband and tail. The shape, / The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.”

• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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  Where parallelism appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “The back, the yoke, the yardage.”
  • Line 2: “The nearly invisible stitches along the collar”
  • Lines 7-9: “The presser, the cutter, / The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union, / The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze”
  • Line 12: “no hydrants, no fire escapes”
  • Line 13: “The witness in a building across the street”
  • Lines 30-32: “The clan tartans / Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian, / To control their savage Scottish workers,”
  • Lines 34-35: “The kilt, devised for workers / To wear among the dusty clattering looms.”
  • Lines 36-37: “The loader, / The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter”
  • Line 46: “The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters”
  • Lines 47-48: “The shape, / The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “yoke,” “yardage”
  • Line 6: “band”
  • Line 7: “button”
  • Line 11: “forty,” “flames”
  • Line 22: “stepped,” “sill,” “himself,” “flared”
  • Line 23: “fluttered,” “from”
  • Line 24: “filling”
  • Line 25: “Bedlamite,” “shrill shirt,” “ballooning”
  • Line 26: “pattern,” “perfectly”
  • Line 27: “placket,” “twin,” “tacked”
  • Line 28: “pockets”
  • Line 29: “Prints, plaids”
  • Line 32: “savage Scottish”
  • Line 33: “MacGregor”
  • Line 34: “MacMartin,” “workers”
  • Line 35: “wear,” “clattering looms”
  • Line 36: “carders”
  • Line 37: “planter,” “picker”
  • Lines 37-38: “sorter / Sweating”
  • Line 38: “cotton”
  • Line 39: “slaves,” “calico,” “sweated”
  • Line 42: “fit”
  • Line 43: “feel,” “smell,” “satisfied”
  • Line 44: “culled,” “cost,” “quality”
  • Line 45: “buttons,” “bone”
  • Line 46: “buttonholes”
  • Line 47: “shape”
  • Line 48: “label,” “labor,” “shade,” “shirt”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “invisible stitches”
  • Line 7: “cuff,” “button”
  • Line 8: “needle”
  • Line 9: “treadle”
  • Line 13: “witness in,” “building”
  • Line 26: “pattern matches”
  • Line 27: “placket,” “tacked”
  • Line 43: “feel,” “clean”
  • Line 44: “me,” “quality”
  • Line 47: “shape”
  • Line 48: “label,” “labor,” “shade”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “back,” “yoke,” “yardage”
  • Line 2: “stitches”
  • Line 3: “Turned,” “sweatshop”
  • Line 5: “talking,” “politics”
  • Line 6: “band”
  • Line 7: “button,” “wrist,” “presser,” “cutter”
  • Line 8: “wringer,” “needle,” “union”
  • Line 9: “treadle,” “bobbin”
  • Line 11: “forty,” “flames”
  • Line 12: “floor,” “fire”
  • Line 21: “Almost,” “once”
  • Line 22: “stepped,” “sill himself,” “flared”
  • Line 23: “fluttered”
  • Line 24: “filling”
  • Line 25: “Bedlamite,” “shrill shirt ballooning”
  • Line 26: “pattern,” “perfectly”
  • Line 27: “Across,” “placket,” “twin bar-tacked”
  • Line 28: “Corners,” “pockets,” “like,” “strict”
  • Line 29: “chord,” “Prints, plaids,” “checks”
  • Line 30: “Houndstooth,” “Tattersall,” “clan,” “tartans”
  • Line 31: “hoax”
  • Line 32: “control,” “savage Scottish workers”
  • Line 33: “MacGregor”
  • Line 34: “MacMartin,” “workers”
  • Line 35: “wear”
  • Line 37: “planter,” “picker”
  • Lines 37-38: “sorter / Sweating”
  • Line 38: “litter,” “cotton”
  • Line 39: “slaves,” “calico,” “sweated”
  • Line 42: “fit”
  • Line 43: “feel,” “clean smell,” “satisfied”
  • Line 44: “culled its cost,” “quality”
  • Line 45: “buttons,” “simulated bone”
  • Line 46: “buttonholes,” “sizing,” “facing,” “characters”
  • Line 47: “black,” “neckband,” “shape”
  • Line 48: “label,” “labor,” “color,” “shade,” “shirt”

“Shirt” 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.

• Yoke
• Yardage
• Lapped seams
• Wringer
• Mangle
• Triangle Factory
• Hart Crane's Bedlamite
• Placket
• Bar-tacked
• Houndstooth
• Tattersall
• Madras
• Hoax of Ossian
• Fabricated heraldry
• Spinners
• Carders
• Loader
• Docker
• Navvy
• Calico
• George Herbert
• Culled

• (Location in poem: Line 1: “the yoke”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Shirt”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Shirt” Speaker

“Shirt” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Shirt”

More “Shirt” Resources

• External Resources

  • Robert Pinsky's Life and Work — A biography of Robert Pinsky from the Poetry Foundation covering his life, work, and literary development.

  • "Shirt" at New York Fashion Week — Listen to a conversation between designers at New York Fashion Week describing the production process in relation to Pinsky's poem, followed by an analysis by the poet himself.

  • Want List: A Review of The Want Bone — A review of Pinsky's collection The Want Bone, the book in which "Shirt" first appeared. 

  • The Art of Poetry: Robert Pinsky — Read a Paris Review interview with Robert Pinsky in which the poet discusses his artistic process and relationship to language.

  • Poetry on Film: Robert Pinsky's Shirt — A discussion of "Shirt" as well as the a visualization of the poem produced by the Nantucket Project.