Poetry · Chapter
To My Laundress explained
The narrator addresses his laundress with a blend of complaint and affection, criticizing her careless work—missing cuffs, mysterious socks, and shirts full of pins—but ultimately forgiving her due to her physical beauty and charm, even dec
What happens
The narrator addresses his laundress with a blend of complaint and affection, criticizing her careless work—missing cuffs, mysterious socks, and shirts full of pins—but ultimately forgiving her due to her physical beauty and charm, even declaring he will never pay her but would embrace her.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Communication
The narrator's conflicted feelings blend irritation with romantic desire, using poetic address to express both complaint and longing.
Deception and Self-Deception
The narrator acknowledges the laundress's faults but chooses to overlook them, rationalizing his non-payment and desire through her beauty.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who both criticizes and romanticizes his laundress.
Key passages
“Saponacea, wert thou not so fair I’d curse thee for thy multitude of sins— For sending home my clothes all full of pins, A shirt occasionally that’s a snare And a delusion, got, the Lord knows where, The Lord knows why—a sock whose outs and ins None know, nor where it ends nor where begins, And fewer cuffs than ought to be my share.”
If you weren't so beautiful, I'd curse you for all your faults: returning my clothes with pins left in them, a mysterious shirt that seems to come from nowhere, a sock that's impossible to figure out, and fewer cuffs than I should get.
The narrator lists the laundress's professional failings in a humorous, exaggerated tone.
“But when I mark thy lilies how they grow, And the red roses of thy ripening charms, I bless the lovelight in thy dark eyes dreaming. I’ll never pay thee, but I’d gladly go Into the magic circle of thine arms, Supple and fragrant from repeated steaming.”
But when I notice your pale skin and blossoming beauty, I admire the loving glow in your dark, dreamy eyes. I won't pay you, but I'd happily be held in your soft, fragrant arms.
The narrator shifts from complaint to romantic admiration, ending with a playful refusal to pay.