Cousin Kate Analysis
English Essay- My Cousin Kate A Poem which was written by Christina Rossetti in the Victorian times between the years 1830-1894. An English poet who mainly aimed her poems at children she lived in London and was educated privately. It is not a typical poem of its time setting because of the theme the poem is showing and as we can see this when analysing the poem.
In the first stanza in the first line where it states “I was a cottage maiden”- this part shows that she is using first person at the start of her poem, it showed she was not a wealthy person and she was just a normal woman living in poverty but still seems to be happy with what she has. The ideas that went to my head when reading the first line was that she is trying to tell everyone she is proud and maybe just contended to be just a cottage maiden. The poem then starts by describing the cottage maiden by saying that she was “Hardened by Sun and air"- this part showed that she worked in the fields."Contented with my cottage mates"- This quote suggests that she was happy with the life she has been living in and has no complaints. “Not mindful I was fair”- This states that she was unaware of how beautiful she really was, the poem goes on to describe how the lord swept hair off her feet by seducing her by complementing her on her looks. However she starts to question the lord’s judgement on why he picked her, this is proved when she says, "Why did a great lord find me out and praise my flaxen hair?" -This suggests that she has no confidence in her appearance or position or it could be that she feels that the lord is only after one thing. She then goes on to say that he has filled her heart with care meaning she believes him a lot so now she gets really worried about him. As I read the first stanza of the poem I could get an idea of what the poet writer wanted us to think. The first stanza seemed fine at the start, but she started to ask questions on why did a great lord find me out, and praise my flaxen
In the first stanza in the first line where it states “I was a cottage maiden”- this part shows that she is using first person at the start of her poem, it showed she was not a wealthy person and she was just a normal woman living in poverty but still seems to be happy with what she has. The ideas that went to my head when reading the first line was that she is trying to tell everyone she is proud and maybe just contended to be just a cottage maiden. The poem then starts by describing the cottage maiden by saying that she was “Hardened by Sun and air"- this part showed that she worked in the fields."Contented with my cottage mates"- This quote suggests that she was happy with the life she has been living in and has no complaints. “Not mindful I was fair”- This states that she was unaware of how beautiful she really was, the poem goes on to describe how the lord swept hair off her feet by seducing her by complementing her on her looks. However she starts to question the lord’s judgement on why he picked her, this is proved when she says, "Why did a great lord find me out and praise my flaxen hair?" -This suggests that she has no confidence in her appearance or position or it could be that she feels that the lord is only after one thing. She then goes on to say that he has filled her heart with care meaning she believes him a lot so now she gets really worried about him. As I read the first stanza of the poem I could get an idea of what the poet writer wanted us to think. The first stanza seemed fine at the start, but she started to ask questions on why did a great lord find me out, and praise my flaxen