First person pronoun creates a sense of authenticity

Cousin Kate: Analysis

Vocabulary and natural imagery suggest innocence and ignorance to societys codes of conduct

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,

Narrator was unaware of her beauty

Hair is blonde- angelic

And praise my flaxen hair? Why did a great lord find me out To fill my heart with care?
Narrators use of rhetorical questions- what effect?

Repetition of pronouneffect?

Consider this choice of lexis

Repetition of vowels elongates the line and creates a mood of lamentation/ grief. What is the joy she experienced here?
The narrator acknowledges the contradictory nature of society. She had freedom when with him but was judged by society. This oxymoronic phrase highlights this paradox The highly sexualised metaphors show the narrators experience controlled by the man

He lured me to his palace homeWoe's me for joy thereofTo 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,
Assonance

Who might have been a dove.

What is the symbolic significance of the dove?

Exclamation highlights her pain and passion

O Lady Kate, my cousin Kate, You grew more fair than I:

Plosive sounds of highlight narrators bitterness

He saw you at your father's gate, Chose you, and cast me by.

Rhythm and use of punctuation helps to directly juxtapose the narrator and Kate

He watched your steps along the lane,

Verbs accentuate the power the lord has. He is portrayed as a predator

Your work among the rye; He lifted you from mean estate To sit with him on high.

Repetition- to what effect?

Because you were so good and pure

society

He bound you with his ring: The neighbours call you good and pure, Call me an outcast thing.
The womens experiences are directly juxtaposed. The language creates animalistic vs angelic images

The fallen woman, hinting to the poems destination

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.

The symbolic significance of wing?

The rhetorical question highlights the moral message of the poem?

Rhythm and rhyme scheme seems to have gained momentum as the narrator becomes more impassioned

O cousin Kate, my love was true,

Narrator continues to draw comparisons between herself and Kate, creating a mood of envy and grief

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.

Will blow away and is impermanent

Seems animalistic and full of hatred, despite the previous declaration of love

Yet a marker for the narrative surprise

Punctuation adds to sense of finality and conviction Oxymoronic phrasing highlights the complicated conflicting emotions

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:

Lexical choice and repetition presents idea of desperation

Your father would give lands for one To wear his coronet.