Analysis of On Mistress Nicely, a Pattern for Housekeepers

Thomas Hood 1799 (London) – 1845 (London)



She was a woman peerless in her station,
With household virtues wedded to her name;
Spotless in linen, grass-bleached in her fame;
And pure and clear-starched in her conversation;
Thence in my Castle of Imagination
She dwells for evermore, the dainty dame,
To keep all airy draperies from shame
And all dream furnitures in preservation:

There walketh she with keys quite silver bright,
In perfect hose and shoes of seemly black,
Apron and stomacher of lily white,
And decent order follows in her track:
The burnished plate grows lustrous in her sight,
And polished floors and tables shine her back.


Scheme ABBAABBA CDCDCD
Poetic Form Petrarchan sonnet 
Metre 11010100010 111010101 1001011001 0101100010 1011010010 111100101 1111010011 01110010 111111101 001101111 10011101 0101010001 0101110001 0101010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 606
Words 102
Sentences 2
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 242
Words per stanza (avg) 50
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
85

Thomas Hood

Thomas Hood was a British humorist and poet. His son, Tom Hood, became a well known playwright and editor. more…

All Thomas Hood poems | Thomas Hood Books

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