Cousin Kate

Cousin Kate

By Christina Rossetti

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

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

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

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

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,
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.

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

Summary of Cousin Kate

  • Popularity of “Cousin Kate”: The poem ;Cousin Kate’ was written by Christina Rossetti, an English poet and writer. The poem was first written and published in 1862 during the height of the Victorian period. Despite having passed years, the poem still presents a fresh scene having chivalry, love, prejudice, and envy. The popularity of the poem lies in its directness of language and enchanting wording.
  • “Cousin Kate” As a Representative of Victorian Gender Differences: The poem presents a young lass from some cottage presenting her story and the story of her cousin, Kate. She is of the view that despite having sun-burned complexions, the great lord found her out to take her to his palace and made her his lady. Although she became his lady, she could not find herself contented with this fate and thought herself immoral. She further says that the same lord caught sight of her cousin, Kate, who was more beautiful. He married her and threw her aside to take the Cousin as his new beloved. The difference, however, lies in the sincerity as she says that her love was true while her cousin’s love for that lord was fake. Despite this loss, she has a son who is the heir of the Lord whom her father could only envy.
  • Major Themes in “Cousin Kate”: Transience of love, fake love, beauty, and inheritance are four major themes of the poem. Rossetti starts her poem with the first person lyricizing it. The cottage girl has become the beloved of a great lord who takes her to his palace, though she is ashamed of her life of living with him. She has had a son from him. Meanwhile, her cousin marries the lord but stays issueless. She tells her that she loves the lord sincerely, yet she has not won him, and Kate has won him despite showing fake love. This Victorian pretension runs throughout the poem despite having a chivalrous thematic strand.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in ‘Cousin Kate’

literary devices are literary nuts and bolts that poets have at their disposal to beautify their poems. The analysis of these devices in the poem is as follows.

  1. Anaphora: It means to repeat the first part of a clause of a sentence, such as “Why did a great lord…” in the first stanza.
  2. Apostrophe: The poem shows the use of the apostrophe, which means to call the spirit of the dead persons, animals, or objects, such as “O Lady Kate, my cousin Kate.”
  3. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Contented with my cottage mates”, the sound of /uh/ in “Your work among the rye”.
  4. Alliteration: It is a device that means to use words in quick succession having initial consonants such as the sound of /s/ in “shameless shameful”, and the sound of /m/ in “My fair-haired son, my shame, my pride.”
  5. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sounds of /l/ and /m/ in “To lead a shameless shameful life” and the sound of /t/ in “Contented with my cottage mates”.
  6. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

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

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “He wore me a silken knot”, “He changed me like a glove” and “You grew more fair than I.”
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of the dove, outcast, and son as metaphors.
  3. Oxymoron: The poem shows the use of oxymorons such as “shameless shameful” which are two opposite words.
  4. Parallelism: The poem shows the use of parallelism in different verses, such as; ‘Oh Lady Kate, my cousin Kate; Cling closer, closer yet’.
  5. Paradox: The poem also shows seemingly contradictory statements such as “His plaything and his love.”
  6. Rhetorical Questions: The poem shows the use of rhetorical questions, which are posed not to elicit answers but to stress upon the idea, such as, i. Now which of us has tendered heart?; Why did a great lord find me out, To fill my heart with care?
  7. Simile: The poem shows the use of similes such as, Hie wore like a silken knote; He changed me like a glove.
  8. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols such as a dove, glove, knot, and gate.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in ‘Cousin Kate’

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABCBDEDE rhyming pattern in all the stanzas until the end of the poem.
  2. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are six stanzas, each having eight verses.
  3. Repetition: The poem shows the use of a rhetorical device of repetition that stresses upon the main idea, such as “Why did a great lord…”

Quotes to be Used

These lines from ‘Cousin Kate’ are relevant to use when advising a person about fake love and fake intimacy.

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.