Warming Her Pearls - Poetry Flashcards
Warming her pearls poem
Next to my own skin, her pearls. My mistress
bids me wear them, warm them, until evening
when I’ll brush her hair. At six, I place them
round her cool, white throat. All day I think of her,
resting in the Yellow Room, contemplating silk
or taffeta, which gown tonight? She fans herself
whilst I work willingly, my slow heat entering
each pearl. Slack on my neck, her rope.
She’s beautiful. I dream about her
in my attic bed; picture her dancing
with tall men, puzzled by my faint, persistent scent
beneath her French perfume, her milky stones.
I dust her shoulders with a rabbit’s foot,
watch the soft blush seep through her skin
like an indolent sigh. In her looking-glass
my red lips part as though I want to speak.
Full moon. Her carriage brings her home. I see
her every movement in my head…. Undressing,
taking off her jewels, her slim hand reaching
for the case, slipping naked into bed, the way
she always does…. And I lie here awake,
knowing the pearls are cooling even now
in the room where my mistress sleeps. All night
I feel their absence and I burn.
meaning of the poem/context:
presumably set in Victorian England, Warming her Pearls is a poem about the love of a maid for her mistress
—-> the maid is performing a task for her mistress, as pearls grow more lustrous when they have been in contact with the oil of skin and the temperature of the cold pearls is kept warm for the mistress
stanza I techniques
‘Next to my own skin, her pearls’: possessive pronouns used, jealous tone introduced. Anastrophe (inversion of the usual order of a sentence) used - highlights the speaker’s skin
‘my mistress’: enjambment used; this isolates the mistress, showing her importance, and again highlights the possessive nature of the servant
‘wear them, warm them’; asyndeton used here (omission of and, or, but in a list’ to create repetitive sounds/alliteration, also shows the nature of the relationship between the maid and the mistress (her brisk ordering of the maid)
‘her cool, white throat’ - presents her with dispassionate, similar to a statue
the whiteness is a sign of wealth
how is the mistress presented in this poem?
‘cool, white throat’: - presents her with dispassionate imagery, similar to a statue, - creating an image of purity and impassiveness
—> shows the fantasy-like state of their relationship as no real features of the mistress are described
- the whiteness is a sign of wealth
- throat is a erogenous zone, intimate but also vulnerable
‘resting’ and ‘contemplating’ - passive verbs (present participles) - shows indolence of the mistress
‘she fans herself’
sensuous
contrast of the maid and the mistress
‘cool, white throat’ and ‘she fans herself’ contrasted with ‘red lips’, ‘my heat’ and ‘I burn’ –> colour/heat imagery
difference in class –> ‘indolent sigh’, ‘contemplating silk or taffeta’ and ‘I work willingly’ ‘in my attic bed’
throat/neck imagery –> idea of the pearls; ‘her cool, white throat’, ‘slack on my neck, her rope’ violence of rope compared to delicate pearls also shows difference in class
contrast in the final stanza between the maid being awake (tormented) and the mistress asleep (peaceful)
what is the tone of this poem?
- jealous - slow pace
- melancholic - melodic
- reflective - sensual
- delusional
- longing
- introspective
themes of the poem
- class
- unrequited love
- forbidden love
- jealousy
- sexual frustration
how is desire communicated in this poem?
‘my red lips part is if I want to speak’ creates a feeling of suppressed desire through the image of the red lips (kissing), and the powerless idea of the lack of speaking
sibilant, soft ‘s’ sounds in
‘soft blush seep through her skin like an idolent sigh’ creates a sensual/ erotic idea
‘undressing’ … ‘slipping naked into bed’
she is tormented by the desire but it heightens the want - self-destructive ideas
the desire creates vivid, all-consuming fantasies
how is the pearls a embodiment of their relationship?
- the heat does not linger, showing the impossibility of the relationship to exist
- the pearls represent the coldness of the mistress
- it is a weak connection, and the only one they will ever be able to have
temperature motif
HEAT/PASSION of the maid
COLD/IMPASSIONATE idea of the mistress
‘Cool, white throat’
‘She fans herself’
‘my slow heat’
‘Warming her pearls’ titles contrasts the final stanza ‘the pearls are cooling’
‘All night I feel their absence and I burn’
class and sexuality
—> the temperature difference is because the maid works and the mistress doesn’t
—-> heat describes sexual feelings, as if the presence of the pearl reduced them as she is separated from the mistress
words to describe this poem:
- frustration, stifled passion, impassionate, impotent, subservient, submission, resentment
what is the structure of the poem?
- non-chronological order
- long sentences, create a steady pace
- soft syllables used
- four lines in each
why is the structure of the poem used?
it has a non-chronological order and is free verse, creating a idea that this life/experience is consistent and repeated, and unlikely to change. The long sentences and slow, measured pace also contribute to this idea.
The measured pace also contributes to the idea of delayed gratification/surpressed desire
quotes to remember:
‘next to my own skin, her pearls’
‘wear them, warm them’
‘resting’, ‘contemplating’
‘she fans herself whilst I work willingly’
‘my slow heat’
‘slack on my neck, her rope’
‘in my attic bed’
‘soft blush seep through her skin like an indolent sigh’
‘my red lips part’ ‘as if I want to speak’
‘undressing’
‘the pearls are cooling’
‘I feel their absence and I burn’
