The narrator starts verse four with the quote ‘Because you were so good and pure’ this suggests that the maiden thinks that the only reason he chose Kate over her is because Kate stayed a virgin and she gave into him a long time ago. ‘He bound you with a ring’ again the narrator uses a possession to describe the situation, and this was only way he could have Kate. ‘The neighbours call you good and pure’ this suggests that the neighbours think good of Kate because she stayed a virgin and didn’t give into temptations. ‘Call me an outcast thing’ this emphasises that the maiden is the complete opposite to Kate, the term ‘outcast’ suggests that people rejected her and isolated her from their lives, and ‘thing’ suggests that she no longer has any standard living values and is seen differently compared to everyone else. ‘Even so I sit and howl in dust’ and ‘You sit in gold and sing’ these are metaphors which contrasts with their lifestyles and moods, as the maiden sits and howls, Kate sits an sings, this contrasts with their moods, and the maiden sits in dusts and Kate sits in gold, this contrasts with their lifestyle. The narrator then say ‘Now which of us has tenderer heart?’ this suggests that Kate had a heart of stone and didn’t care about love because wealth was everything to her, where as the maiden had a true heart because she fell in love with the lord and not with his wealth and his status in the village. ‘You had the stronger wing’ this is suggesting that Kate was more determined and more cunning than the maiden and that she set a price on her virginity.
‘O cousin Kate, my love was true’ this is emphasises that the maidens feelings for the lord was true and that she truly did love him, unlike her cousin who fell in love with this wealth and status. In the next few quotes the narrator emphasises how disloyal Kate was to her cousin for accepting the man she loved purely and deeply. ‘Your love was writ in sand’ this quote is a metaphor which emphasises that her love isn’t true or long lasting and easily obliterated. ‘If he had fooled not me but you’ this suggests that Kate was tricked by the lord, and once again the lord got what he wanted, I also sense a hint of jealousy in this quote, the fact that Kate has him and her cousin doesn’t make her a bit jealous. ‘If you stood where I stand’ this suggests that if Kate was in the maiden position she would see how painful this is, and how disloyal her cousin would be for marrying the man she loved and honoured. ‘He’d not have won me with his love’ this is emphasises that the maiden would never take back the lord even if he actually fell in love her. The quote ‘Nor bought me with his land’ suggests that she wouldn’t go back to him even if he offered her his land and wealth, she also criticises Kate is this quote suggesting she was ‘bought’ and she wasn’t marrying the lord but his wealth. ‘Would have spilt into face’, ‘and not have taken his hand’ suggests that bribing her for her love would be the ultimate insult and she would have spat in his face and rejected him, unlike her cousin who took him without hesitation.
In the final verse of Cousin Kate it starts with the quote ‘Yet I’ve a gift you have not got’ the maiden has a son when she was with the lord, so she has the ultimate gift. ‘And seem not like to get’ this suggest that this is one gift Kate will never have, as there is no price set on this gift. ‘For all your clothes and wedding-ring’ the narrator suggests that all of her possessions would still not be worth more or be more precious that the gift she received from the lord. ‘I’ve little doubt you fret’ here the maiden knows that Kate’s failure to conceive a child for the lord is making her anxious. ‘My fair-haired son, my shame, my pride’ this contrasts with the good and bad side of her son, he’s illegitimate which makes him her shame but she loves him and he means everything to her so that makes him her pride. ‘Cling closer, closer yet’ here the maiden is worried that the lord will return one day to take away her child, so she holds him closer and closer and hopes he will never come. ‘Your father would give lands for one’ this suggests that the lord will give everything to this son, as he with inherit his fathers wealth and land as this heir. The poem finally ends with the quote ‘To wear his coronet’ this means that her son will become lord after his father, the maiden has finally won, she beat the lord in his own game and the tone of gratification is in the air, and a once poor cottage maiden will become the mother of a lord.
I am now going to analyse ‘Seduction’ by Elaine McAuley. Set in the mid sixties and 100 years later than ‘Cousin Kate’ with a very similar theme, but a bleaker outcome.
This poem is by Elaine McAuley and it is set in the mid sixties and it is also a contemporary. It is about a young teenage girl, who is seduced by a school boy into having sexual intercourse by trickery and deceit, and the use of alcohol to manipulate her mind and self control. As a result she ends up pregnant, and any chance of a further education and a normal teenage life is destroyed due to this one stupid mistake.
The poem seduction is told in third person. Seduction starts with the quote ‘After the party early Sunday morning’ this suggests that the scenery was early morning and way after the party was over. ‘He led her to the quiet bridge of Birkenhead dock’ the phrase ‘he led her’ suggests that he was in control and he led her somewhere away from her family and friends where they couldn’t protect her, Birkenhead dock is in Liverpool so by this I learnt that the poem is set in Liverpool. ‘Far past the silver stream of traffic through the city’ this again emphasises that he took her far away from her family and friends so no one could protect her. ‘Far from the blinds windows of the tower block’ this implies that the towers acted as blinds so no one could see them, the use of the word ‘far’ suggests that the boy has taken the girl far out of people’s sight.
‘He sat down in the darkness, leather jacket creaking madly’ this suggests that he was doing something as he was sat down and was moving around. ‘The darkness’ represents the evil intentions that he’s got in his mind, ‘leather jacket creaking madly’ emphasises that his jacket was fake and cheap, as real leather does not squeak, this also could mean that he was like this jacket ‘fake’. ‘He spat into the river, fumbled in a bag’ this suggests that he is very unpleasant as he spat in the river in presences of a young lady, ‘He fumbled in a bag’ suggests he was looking for something that he had placed in it and it seems that he had it all planned out. ‘He handed her the vodka and she knocked it back like water’ this suggests that she’s never drunk alcohol before and I can also tell that he brought the vodka with him so he knew what he was doing. Drinking vodka like water is normally impossible as a large quantity of vodka taken in one go would literary burn your throat and cause alcohol poisoning and even death is a possibility. ‘She giggled, drunk and nervous and he muttered ‘little slag’ this tells me that she has consumed a large amount of alcohol and she is drunk and can’t stop giggling. The quote ‘little slag’ suggests that he doesn’t think much of her other than she’s just a plaything, it is also ironic that he calls her a ‘little slag’ as he is the one getting her drunk and manipulating her mind with is strong liquor.
‘She had met him at the party and he’d danced with her all night’ this suggests that that the boy was very cunning as he picked out his victim and danced with her all night to gain her trust and everything he did was carefully planned out. He’d told her about football: Sammy Lee and Ian Rush’ this tells me he was very self obsessed as he only spoke about himself and didn’t take an interest in her as a person. ‘She had nodded, quite enchanted, and her eyes were wide and bright’ this suggests that she didn’t really know what he was talking about, ‘wide and bright’ emphasises that she was inexperienced, gullible and very naïve and totally unaware of his intentions as she was memorized as he spoke. ‘As he enthused about the Milk cup and the next McGuigan fight’ again he is only talking about his own interests showing how unconsidered he is.
‘As he brought her more drinks, so she fell love with his eyes as blue as iodine’ this suggests that the only think she’s falling in love is the alcohol, the use of the word ‘iodine’ is odd as iodine is a very unpleasant substance which is used as an antiseptic to heal cuts and wounds, but his intentions were not to heal her but to hurt her. ‘With the fingers that stroked her neck and thighs’ this suggests that he was experienced and again in control but this is also way too intimate for a first meeting so he defiantly taking advantage of her drunken state. ‘And the kisses that tasted of nicotine’ this tells me he’s a smoker and it’s not very pleasant kissing someone who’s mouth tasted of nicotine.
‘Then: I’ll take you to the river where I spend the afternoons when I should be at school, or eating me dinner where I go, by myself with me dad’s magazines and a bag filled with shimmering, sweet paint thinner’ this tells me that he’s a truant and not well educated, doesn’t have any friends as he comes to the river by himself as he says ‘I’, he’s a solvent abuser and that he looks at his dad’s pornography magazines which suggests that he does not respect women and thinks of them as a ‘plaything’, so overall he’s not a very pleasant person.
‘So she followed him there, all high white shoes’ the quote ‘all high white shoes’ emphasises her virginity and how pure she still is, it also suggests that she was all dressed up to make herself look older than she is. ‘all wide blue eyes and bottles of vodka’ the use of the phrase ‘All wide blue eyes’ show the girls innocence’s and misplaced trust in him at the time. ‘And sat in the dark, her head rolling forward’ she is completely drunk now and has no self control. ‘Towards the frightening scum on the water’ this is not a very ideal and romantic place to take her but she is too drunk to really notice, this quote has two meanings the first: she is scared of the green scum floating on the water, the second is that she was frightened by his reflection on the dirty water.
‘And talked about school in a disjointed way’ she tries to talk about herself but she is too drunk and gets confused. ‘About ‘O’ levels she’d be sitting in June’ she is far more educated than him and school has been her life so far, so she is very inexperienced in relationships. ‘She chattered on stare at the water’ this suggests that she doesn’t really know what she’s talking about and he’s not really listening. ‘The Mersey, green as a septic wound’ this is very unpleasant as a septic wound is pus-filled, infected and foul just like his intentions.
‘Then, when he swiftly contrived to kiss’ this suggests that he cleverly planned his actions. ‘His was scented Listerine’ which again suggests he had everything planned as he had mouthwash in his bag with the vodka. ‘And she stifled a giggle, reminded of numerous stories from teenage magazines’ this suggests that she’s very excited about being with him as she hasn’t really been in a relationship but only reads about it in magazines. This also tells me that she’s very innocent and naïve as she believes in fairly tale love stories with happy endings.
‘When she discovered she was three months gone’ she has finally found out she is three months pregnant due to that one night stand. ‘She sobbed in the cool, locked darkness of her room’ she is emotionally distressed and feels likes a prisoner locked away in her room, over shadowing the rest of the world and still regretting losing her virginity due to that night and the result of it that ruined her life. ‘And she ripped up all the ‘My Guy’ and ‘Jackie’ photo comics’ she has now realised the gruesome reality and that all her magazines and fairy tale stories was a bunch of lies. ‘Until they were just bright paper, like confetti, strewn’ this is ironic because confetti is meant to be for celebrations such as weddings, but she has been left all alone to raise this unborn child.
‘On the carpet. And on that day, she broke the heels of her white shoes (as she flung them at the wall)’ this is a metaphor to show that her virginity was supposed to be high but now she is not as pure as she used to be, she fells dirty due to losing her virginity. ‘And realised, for once, that she was truly frightened’ she is frightened about the fact that she has become pregnant by someone she barely knew and because she has been protected by her family her whole life she doesn’t know what’s it like to be all alone. But more than that, cheated by the promise of it all’ she has been cheated by the magazines she’s been reading half her life, cheated off her education, cheated off her life and most of all, cheated by the guy who she truly thought loved her and ended up ruining her life.
‘Cousin Kate’ and ‘Seduction’ are two very different poems, due to the different time periods they were written in, but they are also very alike as they deal with the same theme. A few similarities both poems have are, both poems involve the girl being seduced; in ‘Cousin Kate’ the maiden is seduced by the promise of a better life and in ‘Seduction’ the teenage girl is seduced with the use of alcohol. In both poems the women get pregnant; in ‘Cousin Kate the maiden becomes pregnant but has a bit of triumph as her son will inherit his fathers wealth and land, in ‘Seduction’ the young girl is left all alone with a unborn child. In both poems the women are seen as worthless; in ‘Cousin Kate’ the maiden is called a ‘thing’ and in ‘Seduction’ the girl is called a ‘slag’. Both poets use imagery involving clothing; in ‘Cousin Kate the maiden is compared to a ‘glove’ and in ‘Seduction’ the girls virginity and purity is compared to ‘high white shoes’. And both poems involves trickery; in ‘Cousin Kate’ the maiden is tricked by a promise of a life together and in ‘Seduction’ the teenage girl is tricked by the use of alcohol.
The two poems also have a lot of differences, a few differences are, both males have different social standings; in ‘Cousin Kate the male is a great lord and in ‘Seduction’ the male is a young school boy. Another difference is ‘Cousin Kate’ is told in first person and ‘Seduction’ is told in third person so thy both have different perspectives. ‘Cousin Kate’ has been written in the Victorian times and ‘Seduction’ has been written in the mid sixty’s and is a contemporary. Finally both poems have different endings; ‘Cousin Kate’ almost ends with a triumph as the maiden’s son will inherit his fathers wealth and land, but ‘Seduction has more of a bleak ending as the young teenage girl is left all alone with an unborn child.
I really enjoyed both poems as they were both very interesting, and it is very hard for me to choose a favourite, but the poem that stood out to me more than the other would have to be ‘Cousin Kate’. I picked this poem because I liked the fact that it had some tone of triumph in the end, and the hint of true love, unlike ‘Seduction where a sixteen year old girl was left all alone with an unborn child and an unknown father. My favourite quote from ‘Cousin Kate’ is ‘to lead a shameless shameful life’ this is my favourite quote because the maiden does not care what other people think of her because her love for the lord was true.
I have now finally analysed and compared ‘Cousin Kate’ and ‘Seduction’ and have learned the true meaning of both poems.
